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LL.D., D.C.L., F.S.A 



ANCIENT MEOLS: 



OR, 



SOME ACCOUNT OF THE 



ANTIQUITIES found neae DOVE POINT. 



SEA-COAST OF CHESHIRE ; 

INCLUDING A COMPARISON OF THEM WITH RELICS OF THE 
SAME KINDS RESPECTIVELY, PROCURED ELSEWHERE. 



The Rev. A. HUME, LL.D., D.C.L., 

FELLOW OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ANTIQUARIES, COPENHAGEN ; 

FELLOW OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, LONDON; 

CORRESPONDING 5IEMDER OF THE SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, SCOTLAND ; 

BABY KEMBEB OS Tin: SOCIETY OF ANTIQUARIES, NEWCASTLE ON-TYNE 

LOCAL SECRETARY, AT iTVERPOOL, OF THE SOCIETY OF ARTS ; 

AM' HONORARY SECRETARY OF 

TIM. ~ 1 1 1 1 : 1 . AND CHESHIRE. 






NTDON 

' aim: 



tfp. 






GEORGE JVl'CORQUODALE AND CO., PRINTERS, 3S, CASTLE STREET. LIVERPOOL 



TO THE 
PRESIDENT AND MEMBERS 

OF THE 

HISTORIC SOCIETY OF LANCASHIRE AND CHESHIRE, 

THIS ATTEMPT 
TO ILLUSTRATE A PORTION OF THEIR DISTRICT, 

|g rcspcctfullp Inscribe*), 

r.V THEIR FRIEND AND FELLOW-LABOURER, 

Til E A [JTHOR 



PREFACE. 



The study of antiquity, like that of any other subject, has 
its infancy and youth before attaining its maturity; and in 
this case the maturity is comparatively recent. There are 
those still living, who have smiled at the conceits and mistakes 
of antiquaries, when conjecture was common, facts few, and 
principles but little understood. In the present clay, however, 
no vindication of such pursuits is needed ; especially as of late 
years Archaeology has become what Geography and Chronology 
was each said to be, one of the eyes of History. The geologist, 
who had previously called in almost every branch of science 
to aid in his investigations, has lately found his examination 
rendered more accurate by the lights which Archaeology has 
furnished ; and, throughout the researches of the ethnologist, 
an acquaintance with antiquity is indispensable. 

When the publication of this work was first announced, no 
formal treatise was contemplated. It was thought that a well- 
arranged catalogue of the objects, with illustrated plates — exhi- 
biting the principal types for the use of the initiated — was 
perhaps more than the unlearned would care for. On mature 
consideration, however, tin's plan was abandoned. It was felt 
vera] friends, in whose judgment I have much confidence, 
that such informal Lon would not be sufficiently elementary for 
those who would constitute probably the great majority of the 
readers ; and that, in order to invest the subject with sufficient 
attractions for the members of a large mercantile community, 
tli" relations of the objects found to those of the same class j 
rally, and their uses and bearings, should be shown. I 
favourable opportunity was presented, forgiving full informa- 
tion to the members ofa Learned society who proi ecute inquiries 

res] tingthetwo uoTth-western counties of Lancashire and 

h 



VI PREFACE. 

Cheshire ; and also for comparing the objects found here, with 
remains procured in other parts of the kingdom. Accordingly, 
the whole plan was carefully revised, the materials were greatly 
extended, and the analysis was made more minute, so as to 
harmonize with these arrangements. 

In addition to the facts recorded under their respective 
heads, I have added various illustrative quotations chiefly from 
the poets. These are the results of my own jottings while 
perusing our old English literature. From what I have known 
in other cases, I feel assured that they will give some degree of 
vitality to dry details ; and perhaps invest these fragments of 
old metal and other materials with greater interest, from their 
connection with human life and daily necessities. 

I have to express my acknowledgments to several anti- 
quarian friends who have kindly examined the whole collection, 
and given me their views respecting its various parts. These 
include Mr. Hawkins of the British Museum, Mr. Franks, 
Director of the Society of Autiquaries, Mr. Albert "Way, Mr. 
Akerman, Mr. Eoach Smith, Mr. Thomas Wright, &c. 

It would have been impossible, in my own peculiar circum- 
stances, to have described and pictured the objects fairly, if I 
had not been intrusted with them for a considerable time; and 
my best acknowledgments are due to Mr. Mayer, Mr. Ecroyd 
Smith, and Mrs. Longueville, each of whose collections I was 
permitted to retain for two or three years. All of them are now 
carefully returned, with grateful acknowledgments. In group- 
ing the objects for the plates, I secured the assistance of 
Mr. Smith; and lie has also explained two or three class 
objects, to which he had paid considerable attention. His 
remarks are distinguished from my own at the places where 
they occur. 

In the work originally contemplated, woodcuts W6I8 not 

thought of; yet the reader is here presented with about three 

hundred and fifty illustrations of this class. The majority of 

I am enabled to presenl through the kindness of 



PREFACE. VU 

friends, who were desirous to contribute to the interest of the 
volume. Among these are the Council of the Society of Anti- 
quaries and that of the Royal Irish Academy ; Mr. Mayer of 
Liverpool, Mr. Jewitt of Derby, and Mr. Eobert M'Adam of 
Belfast. 

Many friends have anxiously looked for the appearance of 
this book; and to some of them it may seem that a period need- 
lessly long has been permitted to elapse between its announce- 
ment and its issue. I can assure them, however, that no time 
has been wasted, though attention has rarely been given to 
these subjects. With heavy professional duties, and many 
others of no trifling character, voluntarily undertaken for 
public purposes, with every day bringing more than a full 
day's w r ork, apart from any attention to literary pursuits, 
my own surprise is, not that it has been delayed, but that 
it has been finished at all. Indeed, it would have been 
abandoned as a task for which no leisure whatever existed, 
had it not been that I regarded my veracity as at stake 
from the moment that the circulars respecting it had been 
issued. My promise is now more than fulfilled, though less 
promptly than I could have wished. I trust, however, that 
the extended plan and increased illustrations will be regarded 
as some equivalent for unavoidable delay ; especially to those 
who originally expressed a wish to possess the volume. 

While tin- sheets were passing through the press, J have not 
had leisure to verify every oik; of the numerous references ; 
but, as that had been done on two occasions before, I venture 
to hope that few of them will be found inaccurate. 

Btbbtoh, Liverpool, 

30//* September, 1863. 



CONTENTS. 



Part I. — The District. 



I. Introduction 


1 


II. Topography 


2 


1. General Remarks ..... 


2 


2. Points of Special Interest . . . . 


5 


3. Information derivable from Maps . 


11 


4. Inroads of the Sea . 


15 


III. Geology 


17 


IV. History .... 


25 


V. Ethnology 


34 


VI. Hydrography 


40 


1. Charrs 


40 


2. Lighthouses 


42* 


3. Relation of Land and Water . 


. 45 



Part II. — The Objects. 



SECTION L— INTRODUCTORY :— 



I. Finding of the Objects .... 


47 


II. Their Classification 


. 51 


1. Ownership . . ... 


51 


2. Material 


. 52 


3. Use 


54 


4. Antiquity 


. 57 


SECTION II.— DETAILED :— 




I. FinuL.E 


. 61 


11. BROOCHES 


72 


1. Pin Brooches 


. 72 


2. Circular Brooches 


76 


III. Buckle Bbooohbs 


. 84 


IV. Buokxbs 


90 


1. Introduction 


. 90 


2. Buckles with Shanks . 


92 


3. Buckles Generallv 


98 


4. Double Buckles ..... 


101 


5. General Remarks 


. 102 


V. ELkflFfl ou Clasps ..... 


106 


1. General Remarks 


. 106 


2. Classification mid Detailed Description 


108 


VI. Ta'.s on Strap-Ends 


. 116 


VII. Leather Ounamlnts 


128 


1. Rosettes ... ... 


188 


2. Plates 


1 29 


3. Ban 


. 181 


4. Small Section 1 ; 


184 


5. Miscellaneous Ornaments 


. 135 



CONTEXTS. 



VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 



XII. 
XIII. 
XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 



XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 



XXI. 



XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 



XXXI. 
XXXII. 



XXXIII. 



XXXIV. 
XXXV. 



XXXVI. 
XXXVII. 



XXXVIII 



Bosses and Studs . 
Spindle Whorls 
Beads and Pendants 
Spurs and Horse Furniture 

1. Spurs .... 

2. Horse Furniture generally 

Knives 

Keys ... . 

Coffers and Coffer-Mounting 
Implements of Archery . 
Spears and Darts . 
Needles, Needle-Cases, Thimbles 

1. Needles 

2. Needle-Cases 

3. Thimbles 
Hair-Pins, Piercers, &c. . 
Pins ..... 
Tweezers, Kivets, and Nails 

1. Tweezers 

2. Rivets 

3. Nails . 
Rings .... 

1. Finger-Rings 

2. Peculiar Rings . 
Ear-Rings 
Fisii-Hooks 

Scissors .... 
Bells .... 
Crucifixes and Crosses 
Spoons ... 

Ear-Picks 
Gypcieres . 
Seals and Pilgrims' Signs 

1. Seals 

2. Pilgrims' Signs 
Coins . . . „ 
Miscellaneous Articles, Metal 

1. Objects Unclassed 

2. Fire-arms 

3. Axes 

4. Swords and Daggers 

5. Collars 

6. Mending 

7. Chatellaines 
Stone Implements . 

1. Small Objects in Stone 

2. Querns .... 

Combs 

Pottery, Glass, and Enamel 

1. Introduction 

2. Glass and Enamel 

3. Medieval Domestic Crockery 

4. Materials of Spindle* Whorla j 
Smokirg-Pxpbs .... 
Animal Kkmains 

1. In the* Natural State 

2. Manufactured 

Addenda ..... 

i. Special Objects . 

2. Products of a Single Year 



Beads 



CONTENTS. 



XI 



Part III. — Deposition of the Objects 



I. Four Theories 

1. Shipwreck 

2. Fluvial Deposit .... 

3. Aquatic Habitations 

4. Destruction of an Ancient Settlement 
II. Aquatic Habitations .... 

1. Crannoges 

2. Lacustrine Habitations 

III. Destruction of Ancient Settlements . 

1. Inland Towns ..... 

2. Maritime Towns .... 

IV. Special Case — Dunwich .... 

1. Its History 

2. Points of Correspondence with Meols 

3. Details of Interest 

V. Conclusion 

1. Inferences from the Domesday Survey 

2. General Inferences .... 

3. Finale 

Index 



Pace. 
363 
363 
365 
366 
366 
366 
367 
370 
377 
378 
380 
381 
381 
3S3 
383 
386 
386 
390 
396 
399 




ORDER OF THE PLATES. 



Plate. 

I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 



XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 

XXIX. 

XXX. 

XXXI. 

XXXII. 



Four Ancient Maps to face 
Collins's Map, 1687 . 
Roman Fibulas 
Fibula? .... 
Circular and Pin-Brooches 
Buckle-Brooches . 
Buckles with Attachments 
Buckles 

Double Buckles and Hasps 
Hasps .... 
Tags, or Strap-ends . 
Strap Ornaments . 
Bosses and Studs 
Spindle Whorls . 
Beads .... 
Spurs .... 
Iron Knives 
Iron Keys . 

Small Keys, &c 

XIX.A. Ancient Bolts and Keys 
XIX. B. Ancient Locks .... 
Coffer-Handles and Mounting 
Implements of War and the Chase 
Needles, Needle-Cases, &c. . 
Pins, Tweezers, Nails, «£c. 

Finger-Rings 

Ear-Rings 

Fish-Hooks, Bells, Spoons, Crucifixes, &c, 
Seals, Tokens, and Coins 
Miscellaneous Articles, Metal. A 



B. 



Curious Implements, Stone and Wood 
Pottery and Pipes . 
Animal Remains . 



to f.i 



Tage 

12 

41 

63 

72 

75 

88 

96 

98 
102- 
114 
124 
130' 

15-2 
[62 

165' 

177- 
186 

191 
192' 
107 ^ 

215* 
235 

2 45 • 

218 

253 



296 
314 



LIST OF WOOD ENGEAVINGS. 



Page. 

Strata at Dove Point .... 22 
Strata at the Lighthouse. . . 23 
Convergence of Strata towards 

the Shore 24 

Roman Fibula from Crundale 64 

Ossuary 64 

Companion Bottle 64 

Fibula, Dolphin pattern ... 65 
„ llorran, from Little Chss- 

ter 65 

„ Serpent pattern ... 66 
„ Large, from Suffolk . . 68 
„ Small, from Suffolk . . 68 
,, from Cambridgeshire . 69 
„ from Osengell, Kent . . 69 
„ from Selzen, Germany . 69 
„ Roman, frcm Walesby, 

Lincoln 72 

Ring-pin, First stage .... 75 

„ Second scage. ... 75 

„ Third stage .... 75 

„ Fourth stage . . . . 75 

Circular Brooch from Fairford, 

Gloucestershire 77 

Concave Brooch, fiom Gloucester- 
shire 77 

Concave Brooch, from Gloucester- 
shire 77 

The Great Brooch from Kingston 

Down 78 

Ditto, side view 78 

Anns of Ca.se, Lancashire . . . 85 
The Buckle, enlarged ... 85 
Buckle-brooch, brass, from Gilton- 

town 85 

Buckle-brooch, silver, from Gilton- 

town 85 

Buckle-brooch, broken, from Si- 

bcrtswold 86 

Buckle- ; ron, from a Warrior's 

grave 91 

Hiukle-iron, square 91 

„ brass, G Mum-town . . 91 
„ brass, Gilton-town . . . 91 
„ iron, AG us and shank brass 92 
„ brass on iron .... 92 
Buckle with shank brass, Kingston 
Down '.):} 



Page 

93 
, 93 

93 
. 93 

93 
, 93 

93 
. 94 

94 



Buckle-iron, Beakesbourne . 
„ brass, Kingston Down 
„ narrow specimen . . 
„ iron, Kingston Down. 
„ iron, Beakesbourne . 
„ iron, do. 
„ iron, Barf riston . . 
„ the shank tapering . 
„ horse-head pattern . 
„ with projections at rivet- 
holes 94 

„ in one solid piece, pierced 94 
„ the shank pierced ... 94 
„ solid and ornamented . 95 
„ from Chessell, Isle of 

Wight 95 

„ the shaak, supposed to 
have been atlaehed to 

metal 96 

„ the shank, having double 

circles 96 

„ attachment only ... 96 

Buckle, oval, No. 1 99 

,, do., No. 2 99 

„ do., No. 3 99 

the Pelham .... 99 

„ from Muggington, Derby. 99 

Long Buckle, Wirksworth . . 105 

Do. Do. ... 105 

Hasp from the Temple Church . 108 

Belt-hasp from Kent . . . .110 

„ from Gloucestershire. 110 

Catch for Hook Ill 

One of two Catches . . . . Ill 

Peculiar fastening 112 

Do., do 112 

Stud, Fitzherbcrt, Norbury 

Church 112 

,, Cokaine Brass . . . . 112 
Tnple Stud from Morley . . . LIS 
„ from Chesterfield 

Church US 

Fastening, open 115 

,, shut 115 

Semicircular Tag 116 

Plain Tag 116 

Tag on Belt, Thomas Statham, 
Morley n: 



XIV 



LIST OF WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 



Page. | 

Tag on Belt, * Roger Bothe, Saw- 
ley ... . 117 | 
„ Sir John Curzon, 

Kedleston . . 117 i 
„ Richard Kniveton, 

Mnggington . 118 j 
5, Henry Sacheverell, 

Morley . . . 118 i 
„ Anne Willoughby, 

Wilne Church. 118 I 
Garter, showing Pendant, four- 
teenth century 120 

Tag of Belt, Roger Bothe, Sawley 121 
[Buckle from Muggington, Derby, 

see p. 99.] 121 | 

Forked Tag from Gilton-town . 122 ; 

Forked Tag in its Metal Case - 122 

Do. out of Case . . . 122 

Tag from Belt, Curzon, Kedleston 123 \ 

„ Ashover . . . . 123 ' 

„ Eyre, Hathersage 124 i 

Brass Plate, full size . . . . 129 I 

Small Plates, for leather . . . 130 ; 

Ivory ornament 130 j 

Leather Belt, stamped and per- 
forated with Bar 133 ' 

Small leather Ornament . . . 134 
Supposed leather Ornament . . 136 j 
Silver Plates, end of belt. . . 136 ! 
Brass Keeper of Strap . . . . 138 ! 
[Studded Belt on the Black Prince, 

seep. 120.] 142 I 

Umbo of Shield, hemispherical . 148 . 
Do., conical . . . 148 : 

Central Plate of a Shield . . 148 j 
Iron Stud, with wood adhering . 149 : 
Plat-headed Iron Stud . . . 149 • 
Brass Stud, with Plate at point . 149 

Do., broken 149 

Form of Iron Shield-handle . . 149 

Stud from centre of Umbo . . 1 50 

Spindle Whorl, conical-shaped . 152 

„ earthenware . 1 ~>:i 

,, clay 1 53 

,, iYory,ornamented 155 

,, lead, plain . . 155 

„ earthenware, cy- 

lindrical . . 155 
„ earthenware,smal] 156 

„ do., with 

concentric circles 1 56 
,, baked clay, hemi- 
spherical . . 156 
,, lead, plano-convex 156 
Ivory Spindle, large 156 

,, small .... 156 

Spindle Whorl, baked earth, plano- 
convex l.">7 

i .'i.l. lit. illy in\, -il. .1. 



Page. 

Bead, large, Kingston. . . . 157 

„ skeleton of 158 

„ complete, blue and white . 158 

,, ornamented 160 

„ half, framed 160 

„ ornamented, on a silver 

ring 161 

„ from Hilbre island . . . 162 

„ Anglo-Saxon 163 

„ Do 163 

„ Do. 163 

Silver object for suspension . . 164 

Do. small 1G4 

Silver Pendant, portion of . . 164 

„ do., embossed 164 

„ minute . . . .164 

Suspending instrument, brass . 164 

Spur, bronze, with Buckles, &c, 

iron 165 

Spur, from the figure of Statham 166 
„ rowelled, with Loops and 

Hoops 163 

„ antique bronze, of elegant 

form 170 

Cheekpiece,sh owing Rein-holders 1 72 
Bridle-bit and Rein-holders . . 172 
Part of Bridle, horse-pattern . . 172 
Do., with coin attached 173 
Metal of Breeching . . . . 173 
Knife of unusual shape . . .177 
„ coulter-shaped .... 178 

,, lancet-shaped 178 

,, handle, brass 180 

„ sheath, brass 181 

„ do., top of . . . . 181 
Knife found at left side . . .181 
Fork, Romano-British. . . . 182 

Faggot-fork, Roman 1S2 

Knife-blade, common form . . 189 
Early Key, without ring . . .184 

Key with' Ring 184 

„ with heart-shaped Ring . . 185 

,, primitive 185 

„ for Door, piped . . . .186 

„ for Padlock 187 

„ small, piped 189 

Cylindrical Lock 190 

Plate Lock, outside 190 

,, inside, showing Bolt, 190 

Bolt, show tog Holes for wards of 

Key . .' 191 

Hinge, from Kingston Down . . 199 

brass, with clenched Nail 194 

brass 194 

„ iron, front view . . . .194 
„ ., back view . . . l'.»4 

Two Corner-pieces, iron . . . 194 
Iron Corner 199] 

( 'oiler Handle 198 



LIST OF WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 



XV 



Page. 

Iron Handle 195 

Brass Staple 195 

Hasp of Box 195 

Hook of Coffer 196 

Two brass Hooks 196 

Arrow-head, bone 202 

(?)iron .... 203 
Remains of Anglo-Saxon Arrow 204 
Arrow-head, for insertion in the 

shaft 204 

Arrow-head, probably a toy . 205 

Form of Dart 210 

Bone Spear from Ireland . .211 

„ from Lincolnshire . 212 

„ from the Thames . 212 

Head of a small Javelin . . .213 

Spear-head, with broken Socket 213 

„ complete .... 213 

Ferrule of Staff 214 

Large Ferrule of Spear . . . 214 

Ferrule of Javelin 214 

Conical „ .... 214 
Common form of Ferrule . . .215 
Needle, double-pointed, bronze 215 
„ bone, from Switzerland 217 
Piercer, of Cactus thorn . . . 217 
Needle, of Cactus thorn . . .217 
Two bronze Needles, from Ire- 
Ireland 219 

Bone Hair-pin 222 

Mountings of Hair-pin . . . 223 
Object of doubtful purpose . .224 

Brass Hair-pin 225 

Pin from Bicester 225 

Bone Pin from the Shannon . 225 

Small ivory Pin 227 

Two brass Pins 228 

Flat-headed pyramidal Fin . .228 

Pin with pyramidal Head . . 229 

„ with Triple Marking . . . 22'J 

„ silver 220 

,, silver gilt 22'.) 

Two Irish pins, conical-headed 2 32 
„ with terraced and 

in ul t angular 
Heads. . . 232 
„ with diamond 

and circular 
Heads . . . 28S 
„ with Hat Heads 232 

Tweezers or Forceps .... 237 

The Baddon King 241 

The Ring expanded 241 

Brass Ring with quadruple Lines 245 

Silver sliding Ring 247 

Two bronze Bar-rings from the 

Swiss Fakes 249 

Bar-hook, No. l 249 

Far-hook, No. 2 249 



Pagk. 

Bulla for suspension .... 250 
Ring with brass Spangle . . .250 
Two iron Rings with Beads for 

suspension 250 

Gold Ring with wheel-like Orna- 
ment 251 

Torque-like gold Ring . . . 251 
Fish-hook from R.I.A. collection 253 

Sheep Bell 261 

Ancient Crotal 263 

The Hilbre Cross 265 

Gold Spoon from the Lower Bann 271 
Saxon Mountings of Purse . . 272 
Mounting of Gypciere from Bar- 
ham 275 

Brass Ring for wooden Tube . 297 

Iron Staple 297 

Merovingian Double Axe . . 301 
Dermot MacMurrough, with Axe 302 
Merovingian Double Axe . . . 303 

Ordinary Sword 304 

Saxon Hilt with Pommel . . . 304 

Silver Pommel 305 

Iron Pommel, side view . . . 305 
Iron Pommel, seen vertically . 305 

Knife-like Sword 305 

„ Saxon ... 306 

Sword-chape, Richard Rolleston 307 

„ Sir John Curzon . 307 

„ Richard Kniveton 307 

„ from Ireland . . 307 

Wooden Drinking-cup, with brass 

lip 308 

Wooden Drinking-cup, repaired 309 
Clasp for Wooden Vessel . . 310 
Chatellaines or Pendants . . . 310 

Link of Chain 311 

Net Weight, or Flail-stone . .312 

Net-sinker 313 

Plummet-stone 314 

Snioothing-stone 314 

Celt with handle, from Solway 

Moss 315 

Roman Quern-stones,Walcsby 316 

Mill Timber 316 

Triturating-stones 317 

Bone Comb, from the Thames . 318 
Indian Comb for scalp-locks . . 321 

Irish Rack Comb :52:i 

Double Comb, with Sheaths . . 323 
Cup with Pendant Ornaments 

from Kent . 327 

,, „ Qermany . . 327 

„ „ Gloucestershire 827 

„ ,, France . . . 327 

Ancient Pottery from Warwick- 

* shire .... 831 

„ Northamptonshire •'"••"> i 
Two Norman Pitchers .... 333 



XVI 



LTST OF WOOD ENGRAVINGS. 



Page. 

Clumsy Norman Jug .... 334 
Improved „ .... 334 

Peculiar Vessel with projecting 

Handle 334 

American Pipe, Thunder Bay . 339 
„ Moqvi Pipe . . . 339 

„ wLh Bowl in form 

of Idol 339 

English (a) Elizabethan Pine . 340 
„ (b) „ full size . 340 

„ (c) „ from Duffi eld 340 

„ (d ) from Broseley . . 340 
„ (e) temp. James I. or 

Charles 1 340 

5» CO f° ur forms from 

ancient prints . . . 341 
„ (g) peculiar, from Derby 341 
„ \h) from Broseley . . 341 
„ (j) five forms from 

tradesmen's tokens . 341 
„ (&) from Devonshire . 341 
,, (l) Broseley, plain . .341 
„ (m) » ornamented 341 
„ (n) „ large . . 341 
„ (o) temp. William III. . 342 
„ ( p) „ long bowled 342 
i, C?) ., » 342 

» ( r ) » barrel-shaped 342 



Pack. 

English (s) Broseley,barrel-shaped 342 

„ (0 „ large . . 342 

„ (a) „ 1729 ... 342 

„ {w) „ undated . 343 

„ (x) undated, obtuse angled S4 3 

» M ., „ . 343 

Irish, brass, of Flemish origin . 343 

Anglo-Amencao, 1764 . . . 3 J 4 

Hora, with brass-wire Points . 352 

Bone, for suspension .... 352 

Ivory Armilla S53 

Animal Remains from Leicester G53 
Bucket from Envermeu, Nor- 
mandy 355 

Fragment of Anglo-Saxon Bucket 356 
Brass Ornament of Bucket . . 356 
Bucket from Wilbraham, Cam- 
bridgeshire 356 

Bronze Vessel of Riveted Plates 358 
Serpent-headed Brooch . . . 360 
Mediaeval Scenl-box .... 361 
Ardakillin Crannoge .... 368 
Lacustrine Habitations from the 

water 371 

„ side view from a dis- 
tance 372 

Remains of Habitations of the 
Bronze Period 372 




PART I.— THE DISTRICT. 



I.— INTRODUCTION. 

The County Palatine of Chester, which adjoins that of 
Lancaster throughout the whole of its northern boundary, 
18 ill most exclusively inland. The exception is to be found 
in one of its hundreds, and this a comparatively small one, 
known as the Hundred of Wirrall It is a peninsula nearly 
rectangular in shape, its longer parallel sides being bounded 
on the north-east and south-west respectively by the estuaries 
of the Mersey and the Dee. These are both well-known 
rivers. The former is that which contributes to the wealth 
and prosperity of Liverpool ; the latter is associated with the 
ancient Chester, which it nearly surrounds, and with North 
Wales, in which it has its origin. The narrow end of this 
peninsula is washed by the tides of the Irish Channel; and 
this line of seven and a half mile-, between the mouths of the 
two rivers, is the only part of Cheshire which adjoins tip 
Short as it is, however, it is full of interest; and furnishes 
materials for investigation in several departments of intel- 
lectual inquiry. At one particular poinl in this Line, a large 
number of antiquarian objects have been brought to light — 
probably between four thousand and five thousand in all — 
the purposes of which were very varied, and the ages of which 
fcange over many centuries, Strange t<> say, they have been 

i: 



PART J. — T11K DIST1UC 



all, or nearly all, found below the level of high water, in the 
soil which at present belongs to the sea rather than to the 
land. It is not surprising that they have attracted a great 
deal of attention, and that various opinions liave been hazarded 
respecting the time and the manner of their deposition there. 

To explain these objects in detail, or at least so many of 
them as are still accessible, is the object of this volume. 
Large numbers had been dispersed, and others lost or de- 
stroyed before their nature or importance was known ; yet 
the aggregate collection described here may be regarded as 
presenting a fair specimen of the whole. The circumstances 
in which they have been found are so rare and peculiar, that 
some of our most eminent Archaeologists have declined to 
venture an opinion on the subject ; yet it is to be hoped, that 
in the exercise of a fair induction, we- may arrive at a conclu- 
sion with a large amount of probability in its favour. 

In placing before the reader the general circumstances 
under which these objects have been found, it will be neces- 
sary to examine the district both in place and in time: that is 
to say, in its Topographical and also in its Historical features. 
There are other considerations which necessarily suggest them- 
selves, such as the changes of elevation, if any, of sea and 
land, and the relation existing between the two. A brief 
examination of these subjects forms an indispensable intro- 
duction to the treatise respecting the articles. 



II.— TOFOGKArilY. 

1. — General Remarks. 

The north-western end of the peninsula, extending as far as 
Birkenhead on the one side and Thurstaston on the other, is 
all thai we require to examine nt present ; and the places 
admit of easy identification by means of the accompanying 



TOPOGBAPHY. 

map. A range of hills, extending for some miles nearly 
parallel to the Mersey, terminates abruptly at Bidston : and 
the district to the north of these hills is one continuous and 
uninteresting flat. There are a few undulations westward 
towards the Dee, terminating in the Grange Hill, on which 
West Kirkby is built ; and the principal parts of the parish 
of Wallasey are also elevated considerably above the sur- 
rounding land. 

Through the long dreary flat between these elevations and 
the shore, the millet called Birket is said to " flow ;" but in 
reality it resembles a stagnant ditch, having only a fall of a 
lew inches from its rise to its close. It originates within a 
few perches of the mouth of the Dee ; and meandering through 
the flat country, is discharged into the Mersey through 
Wallasey Pool. The deep ditches of sluggish water which inter- 
sect this plain in various directions, remind one of the divisions 
of fields which are common in the Fen country ; and a large 
portion of it seems very limited in iinproveable qualities. A 
continuous tract of 1400 Cheshire acres, or nearly 3000 
statute acres, is permanently below high water level ; and but 
for a large embankment on the side next the sea, and strong 
flood-gates on the side next Wallasey Pool (now called Bir- 
kenhead Great Float), Neptune would claim again the dominion 
which appears t<> have been wrested from him. It is, no doubt, 
to this physical feature, as well as perhaps to tin* direction of 
the rivers, that Drayton alludes in his Polyolbiori, published 
in 1612. Not only tin- poem, but the maps which are ap- 
pended to it in illustration, are figurative, and personify both 
rivers and lands. Bilbre* is a little island at the month of 
the !)•'<■, of the extent of a very few acres; called by Drayton, 
" ( lorner of WerralL" II«' says : — 



* St. Hildebnrgh'i ea or island. 

There was a cell of monks here ; and 
from this fact, as well as from the i><>- 
sition of the little island, it attracted 



unusual attention, and was generally 
depicted on a much larger scale than 
the neighbouring land. 



4 I'AKT I. — THE DISTRICT. 

Mersey for more state 
Assuming broader banks, him selfe so proudly beares, 
That at his stern e approach, extended Wyrrall feares, 
That (what betwixt his floods of Mersey and the Dee) 
In very little time deuoured he might be ; 
Out of the foaming surge, till Hiibre lifts his head, 
To let the foreland see how richly he had sped. 
Which Mersey cheeres so much, that with a smyling brow, 
He fawnes on both these Floods, their amorous arms that throw. 

Another feature of the coast which it possesses in common 
with that of Lancashire, consists of the huge hills of fine sand, 
which are blown up just beyoud the reach of high water, but 
are shifted from time to time by the wind, like the drifty 
portion of a snow wreath. They occur about Waterloo and 
Southport, to the north of the mouth of the Mersey, and 
there too the name meoh * occurs, both in Raven's Meols and 
North Meols. In Cheshire these hills were formerly called 
" hoes," but the name is not now common. Sandhills of a 
similar kind are called dunes in France, and are well known 
in the neighbourhood of Dunkirk. In a poem entitled Iter 
Lancastrense, 1636, they are thus alluded to : — 

Ormeschurch and y° Meales 
Are our next jorney, we direct no weales 
Of state to hinder our delight. Y° guize 
Of those chafTe sands, f which do in mountains rise, 
On shore is pleasure to behould, which hoes X 
Are called in "Worold : wiudie tempest blowes 
Them up in heaps. 

Such a communication with the sea. as Las juat been 

noticed, would separate the pari<li of Wallasey, and it is 



* Mr. Corser, the editor of James's 
//, /• Lancastrense^ for the Chatham 
Society, appears to think that ftfeols ia 
derived from mm I. a Large heap or pile. 
It is commonly said to he dei ived from 
a term denoting appearance— hare. 
naked, bald - rather than site, 



f Light sands, blown about like 
chaff, or like snow-drift. 

+ How. a hill, as Vox-Jtow, (Ircen- 

/«>w, Torpen-Aow, dider-Aov (Cli« 

theroe). 



TOPOGKAPHY. O 

supposed that the parish of West Kirkby, on the Dee, was 
also separated. Ormerod says (Hist Chesh. ii. 269), "the 
parish appears to have been insulated at some distant period 
by a deep rocky channel, which joins the estuary of the 
Dee between Caldey and Thurstanston, and gradually mixes 
with the flat district on the shore of the Irish sea. The 
greater part of the space thus separated is rocky and uneven, 
and totally different in character from the rest of the 
Hundred." 

2. — Points of Special Interest. 

If we pursue the line of coast from North-east to South- 
west, the following facts present themselves : — 

Towards the former extremity is the plain known as the 
Leasowe, which was used, at least occasionally, as a race-course 
previous to 1601, and which, with that at Childwall in Lan- 
cashire, referred to about a century later,* constituted the two 
places for equestrian sports in this neighbourhood. Its ancient 
dimensions are now greatly curtailed ; yet, when the act 
respecting its enclosure came into operation, about 1818, it 
was two hundred and twenty acres in extent.-)- It was then 
protected by the sandhills, on. which star-grass was cultivated 
for the purpose of binding them; but, in 1829, an important 
sea-wall was erected, extending a mile and three quarters !■> 
outh-westj from opposite Leasowe Castle, at a cost of 
about £20,000. It is maintained in good condition by the 
Corporation of Liverpool ; but the sea occasionally breaks 
over it, as during the high winds of 20th January, 1863.J 

* "Yesterday (Gth September, 1705) I % On the 14tli of February, 1861, 
I saw and spoke to Mr. Scai isbrick ; a fourteen feet tide rose to nineteen 



of Scarisbriek, at the horse-race at 
Childwall, where my Lord M ullincux. 
and his son's horses ran against -Mr. 
Harrington's and his son's, and the 
two latter did win." — The Norria 
Papery Chetham Society, p. 141. 
t Ormcrod's Cheshire, ii. 281. 



feet, or was influenced to the extent 
of five feet by the winds. If this 
had happened with a twenty-one feet 
spring tide, mnch of the low, land in 
the valleys of the Mersey and the 
Dee would have been laid under 
water. 



6 



PART I. — THE DISTRICT. 



Passing towards the Dee' by the lighthouse, we come to 
the Dove Point, opposite the projecting sandbank known as 
the Dove Spit,* By the formation of the surface, the idea is 
suggested that there was formerly a connection with the bank 
beyond ; that is to say, with the Hoylc bank at its northern 
extremity, or the Burbo at its southern. We will return to 
the consideration of this spot ; but it may be permitted at 
present to make a remark on the etymology of the name. 
The whole surface of the ground between the sandhills and 
the water is a mass of turf-bog apparently, and the modern 
name by which it is known is literally true, " the black earth." 
But the ancient one was equally correct, for it was almost the 
same term, as Dove is only slightly altered from the Celtic 
Dhuv, black.-)- We notice the name on Grenville Collins's 
map, 1687, but in all probability it is many centuries 
older. This part is in the township of Great Meols, pro- 
bably named from the large % bare heaps of sand which it 
exhibited; for in area it is not one-twentieth larger than 
Little Meols. 

Between the two lies the township of Hoose, which is only 
about one-third the size of the Meols on either side of it, and 
in it the village of Hoylake is situated. The name is evidently 
a corruption of the " hoes " or hillocks alluded to ; and it is not 
unlikely that they occupied the whole of the 230 acres which 



* About 1829, daring the mayoralty 
of Sir George Drinkwater, an attempt 
was made to change the name to 
Drinkwater Spit, and this is marked 
on Evans's map. The old name, 
however, remained. 

f The Dove river in Derbyshire, 
whence Dovedale, is named in :i 
Bimilar way. Before cultivation had 
cleared away the peal from the hills, 
the water was black coloured, like 
the Blackwaters and Avon-dims of 
Ireland, and like numerous Btreama 



of Lancashire at the present time. 
There is a similar piece of black 
earth opposite Caldcy, near the 
month of the Dee; and it is com- 
monly known by the name of * Caw- 
dey Blacks." 

J In like manner. Little Bfeola 
Would derive its name from the small 
naked hillocks of sand; an adjective 
from a more modern Language being 
frequently joined to a noun from a 
more ancient one. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 7 

constitute its land area. * Indeed, they practically do so still, 
terminating and recommencing with an interval of about two 
miles along the end of the peninsula ; and hence, though roads 
have been made and houses built, it would be difficult to find 
an acre of cultivated ground within the limits. 

The earliest mention that is made of Hoylake appears to be 
about the reign of King John, when William Lancelyn quit- 
claimed for ever, to the monks of St. Werburgh, the fishing of 
" lacus de Hildburgeye, qui vocatur Heye-pol." The name was 
therefore first applied to the water, and afterwards transferred 
to the land ; but its pronunciation and its orthography have 
been subject to great varieties. It has been the High-Lake, 
Hyle-lake, Hoyle-lake, and Hoylake. The " Hyle sand " of 
1687, now cut in two by the action of the river Dee, constitutes 
the east and west Hoyle banks; but the lake or passage 
between the bank and the land, having been almost filled up 
by the silting of sand, the village which has sprung up in 
Hoose since about 1830, has taken the name Hoylake,")" and 
is now well known as a favourite watering-place. The anti- 



* On Oollins's map is marked "The 
ITose-end," where the sandhills ter- 
minate near Dove Point ; so that there 
ean be little doubt about the derivation 
mentioned in the text. In like man - 
ner, the Horse Channel is the Hose 
01 Hoose Channel. The "hoes" 
appear to extend further now than 
formerly, in the direction of the Lea- 
■owe lighthouse. 

t The name " Ileye-pol " is about 
as old as the name "Lyrpool," and it 
is unquestionable that both originally 
applied to water, not to land. Several 
distinct pieces of water in the neigh- 
bourhood are called "pools," as 
Dalpool or Dorpool, now Dawpool, 

near Thurstaston. Hire, also, the 

name has been transferred from the 
water to the land. Now, the cor- 
relative terms of high and low, upper 



and under, are given not merely from 
reasons connected with elevation, but 
from their position in reference to a 
head or centre. The nearer is the 
upper, and the more remote the lower. 
May we not conclude, therefore, that 
the early ships plying to and from 
the port of Chester found the Heye 
(high) pol near the mouth of the Dee, 
and the Lyr (lower) pool near the 
mouth of the Mersey? The abbre- 
viated expression (like Bixteth street 
for nickersteth street, or the change 
Litherpool, as Litherland) is in ac- 
cordance with the customs of the 
period; and the relative distances 
from Chester arc thus stereotyped 
in the names of a village and a 
seaport, the rapid growth and pre- 
sent importance Of which are very 
an equal. 



8 paiit t. — The district. 

quities found at Meols are sometimes spoken of as the Hovlake 
antiquities, that being the largest known place in the immediate 
neighbourhood. 

Let us now return to "the black earth," at the place 
characteristically called "Dove." William Webb, whose 
description of the whole county, written about 1615, is 
printed in Kings Vale Royal, speaking of the mosses which 
yield " turves," adds the following : — 

"In these mosses, especially in the black, are fir-trees found under 
the ground, (a thing marvellous ! ) in some places six feet deep or more, 
and in others not one foot ; which trees are of a surprising length, and 
straight, having certain small brauches like boughs, and roots at the 
one end as if they had been blown down by winds ; and yet no man can 
tell that ever any such trees did grow there, nor yet how they should 
come thither. Some are of opinion that they have lain there ever 
since Noah's flood. These trees being found (which the owners do 
search out with a long spit of iron or such like), they are then digged 
up, and first being sawed into short pieces (every piece of the length of 
a yard), then they cleave the said pieces very small, yen, even as the 
back of a knife, the which they use instead of a candle to burn, and 
they give very good light," 

But it is clear that the general characteristic applied to this 
particular locality; for, about twenty years later, we find a simi- 
lar description in verse,* with the intimation in the margin — 
" You may sec this at a place called y £ Stocks in Worold'* 

But greater wonder calls me hence : y° deepe 
Low spongie mosses yet remembrance keepe 
Of Noah's flood : on numbers infinite 
Of fir-trees swaines doe in their cesses t light ; 
And in summe places, when y° sea doth bate 
Down from y" shoare, 'tis wonder to relate 
llow many thowsands of theis trees now stand 
Black broken on their rootes, which once drie land 
Did cover, whence turfs Neptune yeelds to show* 
lie did not always to theis borders flow. 

* [ter Lancattren.se, 1. 805— 314, ( t K ■ • i, pits or excaTationfl* 



T0P0GRAH1Y. 



9 



As tliere is no place in Wirrall where such phenomena 
exist except at and near Dove Point, it is clear that he is 
alluding to the " Submarine Forest/' or to the stumps known 
as " Meols Stocks." Without attaching undue importance to 
the terms which he employs, " numbers infinite " and " many 
thowsands," it is clear that in the early part of the seventeenth 
century the remains of trees existed in great numbers. So 
also did they on the Lancashire shore near Formby,* shewing 
that the country round was formerly well wooded, though now 
it exhibits scarcely a shrub in the neighbourhood of the sea. 

More than two centuries have elapsed, yet the remains of a 
forest have not been obliterated. The following notes are extract- 
ed from my own diary, on visiting the spot at several times : — 

March, 1850. — The various strata are visible to seaward, each 
upper one gradually disappearing. Thus: 1st, the sand and 
upper surface extend thirty yards towards the tide : 2nd, 
" the black earth " fifty-nine yards further, containing 538 
stumps of trees : 3rd, blue clay sixty-three yards further : 
and 4th, the lowest margin noticeable, is forty-four yards 
further, or nearly 200 yards in a direct line to seaward. 

One stump, known in Ireland as "bog-fir," forty-three yards 
below high-water mark, has the bark on. The wood above 
Lb much torn away, but one flake contains an obvious nail 
or staple hole. The iron is gone, but the rust remains in 
and around the hole. 

Many stumps have been removed by the villagers, who dry 
them to heat their ovens. The earth is like turf bog, with 
trees in it, and the whole is easily penetrated, cutting like 
a piece of cheese. 

The stumps are largest towards the Dee, but become smaller 
and more numerous towards Leasowe. Some of the smaller 
ones seem to be in rows,-)- five yards wide, and the indi- 
vidual ones five yards apart. 



• In 1796, large numbers of trunks 
of trees existed between Crosby and 
Formby, on tbe shore; and not only 
ti description of them, but a woodcut 
shewing their appearance, is given in 
the Gentleman's Magazine of that 
rear, 



+ The same fact was noticed by 
Dr. Leigh, one hundred and sixty 
years ago, and also by Dr. Aikin, 
near the mouth of the Alt, between 
Crosby and Formby. Tart of the 
trunks, "being in a line at equal 
distances, were undoubtedly planted." 



10 



1'AKT 1. — THE DISTRICT. 



1 1th July, 1857. — Large trees to Hoylake end ; small plan- 
tation towards Leasowe. The large trees seem to be in a 
rude order, but yet not quite regular. The great majority 
arc oak. The roots are standing in situ, and some trunks. 
The latter vary from eighteen inches to two and a half feet 
in diameter. Some trees of fir, and roots of one of fir, 
come close up to and met those of a tree of oak. The 
trunks lie in a south-east direction, as if they had been 
prostrated by a north-west wind. Mr. Sherwood says that 
a large tree was lately found thirty-five feet long. It is 
sound at the heart, but a few inches of the outer bark is 
decayed. 

13th July, 1857. — Butts of land or marks of ridges are visible 
to the Leasowe side of Dove Mark, and Hoylake side of 
Dove Spit. Four different trees, interlaced in their roots. 

. One long fir-tree (one of these four), twenty-one feet long ; 
another also imbedded in black earth and sand ; thirty feet 
of it visible. There are numerous masses of marl and bog 
rounded and water- worn, many of them assuming the shape 
of stone celts. The clay underneath has dried into crystals, 
like the stones of the Giant's Causeway, and fir and oak 
roots penetrate the chinks. 

There is an artificial canal cut through the black earth, like a 
place for launching boats, or like a cart-road up from the 
tide ; on the north side of which is a gigantic bog-fir root, of 
about three feet six inches in diameter. It has been cut, 
and has wedges sticking in it. Great part of it is carried* 
away. 

At the most seaward point of the Dove Spit, there are large close 
and old fir-trees in irregular order, as if part of a natural 
forest. A few perches landward they are young, small, 
and in rows, as if planted in the shelter of the larger ones. 
One fir, the largest and best seen yet, has marks of the axe 
upon it by which it lias been cut down : the edge of the 
axe three and a half indies liroad. There is the shell of an 
oak-tree still remaining, like a garden box in which plants 
are grown. 



* The library nt Leasowe Castle u 
fitted up from the timber of Meola 

Stock*, find* numerous trinkets are 

constructed <>f it. The handles and 
ha. 'lies of the doors in the parsonage 
at Hoylake, and in the cottage erected 
by the late Mr. Bwainson. are also 



of this oak. Great quantities of it 
have also been removed from the 
Lancashire shore within the present 
century. One man eartcd away 
nearly titty loads from a Single held 

in Crosby. 



TOPOGRAPHY. 11 

Several tree-roots have been washed from their natural moor- 
ings, and now occupy new sites. These are all fir. There 
is a line of oaks, seven or eight in number, nearer the land, 
all tub-like. 

A piece of a huge trunk of oak is lying off Dove Point, to 
seaward of Dove Mark. Just there, the ground is formed 
almost exclusively of vegetable matter ; projecting ends of 
trunks and branches. "Where no trees have existed, there is 
evidence of several distinct tufts of brushwood to the Hoy- 
lake side of Dove Mark. The peat extends, with occasional 
interruptions, about three miles along the shore : viz., from 
near Leasowe Castle to opposite Hoylake village. An old 
line of coast is shown below high-water mark, on Captain 
1 1 n ham's chart, extending almost from the Mersey to the 
Dee. 

3. — Information derivable from Maps. 

It might be supposed that ancient maps would tend to 
throw some light upon the former condition of the district ; 
but geography, like other departments of knowledge, had its 
embryo and unsatisfactory stage ; so that it is only in com- 
paratively recent times that we find the delineations of maps 
thoroughly reliable. The vagueness winch characterises our 
more ancient English treatises, is naturally surprising to one 
who is accustomed to the mathematical accuracy of modern 
times. The observer knew, of course, when lie turned to the 
right ot Left, and he was acquainted in general with the four 
cardinal points; but all statements, both on the subject of 

bion and extent, were extremely vagne. It does not 
follow that the maps formed from snch impressions and 

[ptions were, or are, wholly useless; but they served few 
practical purposes, and they bore a strong resemblance to 
those which schoolboys draw from memory upon their slates. 
Three or (our of these may be alluded fco, partly as curiosities, 
but mainly in illustration of the negative kind of information 

which the more ancient topographical maps a Hun I us. 

(1.) The first is an Anglo-Saxon map of the loth century, 
published m Knights Pictorial History of England, of which 




12 TAUT I. — THE DISTRICT. 

the part referring to these islands is here extracted. The world, 
as then known, is given with the usual errors as to relative 
position, direction, and magnitude. At the top is the east; 
in the north-western corner are the British Islands; Great 
Britain hangs almost like two door-posts and a lintel over 
Ireland and the Isle of Man ; Wales appears to project from 
the most northerly point ; and the sea beyond is studded with 
islands more than equal in area to Ireland or Britannia proper. 
{Plate L, Map 1.) 

(2.) A more accurate view of our own part of the world is 
given on a map of the British islands, of about the middle of 
the sixteenth century. It is taken from Minister's Cosmo- 
graphia Universalis* and exhibits the usual exaggerations and 
inaccuracies. There appears to be a forest in North Wales, 
but nothing can be conjectured respecting the modern districts 
of Lancashire and Cheshire. (Plate L, Map 3.) 

(3.) In Matthew Paris's map of England,-)- supposed to have 
been drawn by his own hand about the thirteenth century, we 
see a rough outline of our own particular district. In four 
adjoining counties, four adjacent places of importance are 
marked, viz. : — Carlisle in Cumberland, Richmond in York- 
shire, Furness in Lancashire, and Chester in Cheshire. 
Besides the amusing irregularities which it exhibits, the 
primitive character of the map is illustrated by a quaint 
remark written on the face of it. The south-eastern portion 
of England is wanting, and the explanation occurs — "Si 
pagina pateretur, hinc, total insula largior esse debet" (Plate 
L, Map 2.) 

(4) In a work printed in 1575, we have an engraved map 
(constructed in 15G9) of a portion smaller than a county, viz., 
of the Hundred of Wirrall — which wo are now considering. It 



• Printed at Basle, 1550. IWalliamj MS. Lib. Beg^ B. M. 

t Britannia, nunc Auglia, qua It u published in Gough'i Topo- 



tmplectitar Soociam, Qallweiam, ct graphy, Vol. I. 




iO 



aifmnr*. 

\ 




TOPOGRAPHY. 13 

is in the Cambrice* Typus of Lhuyd. [Lliuyd was a native 
of Denbigh, and its representative in Parliament ; and there- 
fore ought to have known the neighbourhood well. But on the 
map of Saxton, 1573, Hilbre is an island as at present; and as 
he was employed for nine years, under a Eoyal Commission, in 
surveying the English counties, his authority is the more 
valuable, for both time and place.] The Hundred of Wirrall, 
called Cilgwri by the Britons, stretches out into the sea, and, 
instead of an island at its extremity, there is a large peninsula. 
{Plate I., Map 4.) In connection with this it may be noticed, 
that the earliest map which pretends to give individual places 
in these shires, and the earliest with which we are acquainted, 
is Ptolemy's. He presents a puzzle to antiquarian and geogra- 
phical inquirers, by appearing to fuse the two rivers, Mersey 
and Kibble ; but an attempt is made to explain his statements, 
and to harmonize them with modern facts, in Horshys 
Britannica Romano,, 1732. 

Among the most reliable maps of more modern times were 
those which appear to have been first constructed in subor- 
dination to heraldry. In the visitations of the shires, which 
took place during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, 
places were noted in connection with the noblemen and 
gentlemen resident in or near them who were entitled to 
bear amis. I have not, however, discovered any manuscript 
map of this kind referring to Cheshire; but the county maps 
by Franciscus Scatterus, 1577, which are engraved, shew that 
tlio.se, both of Lancashire ami Cheshire, have been used for 
heraldic purposes. The- latter exhibits the internal hills as at 
Wallasey and West Kirkby ; the townships of Grange, Melse- 
magna, Melse-parva, and .Morton, are given; Bidston repre- 
sents an enclosure like a park ; and Poulton appears as " Poton." 
Hill. re is a distinct island, but the part of tin- eoast opposite 
to it projects much further to seaward than at present ; and in 

* Cambria; Typus, Auctore Hum- BritaOBO. 
[redo Lhuydo, J)cnbigcnse, Cambro- 



u 



TAIiT I. 



-THE DISTRICT. 



the outline of Wirrall, appended to the map of Lancashire, the 
same appearance is presented. Under Seacombe is written 
the word " Melsh " by the hand of a herald, shewing that a 
gentleman named Meols, whose name was derived from the 
neighbouring township (popularly " Melsh "), resided there. 

In the Eawlinson manuscripts in the Bodleian Library, 
Oxford, there is a map of Cheshire of the date 1588, by 
William Smith, who in one place is described as " citizen of 
Noremburg," and in another as " Eouge Dragon." It is very 
carefully drawn for the period, and so many as sixty-eight 
places are given in the Hundred of WirraH Among these, 
Meols Great and Little are both represented as villages, but 
the shore still appears to project seaward. 

It would perhaps be too much to infer that Meols ever 
was a large place in the modern sense of the term ; but there 
is a concurrence of evidence to shew that it certainly waa so 
by comparison. For, in Visscher's Map of 1G50, Meols is the 
only town given in the whole hundred ; and there are but 
two roads * marked, one of which passes through it, going 
round the coast, and the other is direct from Frodsham to 
Meols. Also on Schenk's map, published temp. William III., 
while Formby, Sefton, Bidston, Garston, &c., are represented 



* The reader must not suppose that 
these were like our modern turnpike 
roads, or that they were necessarily 
"made roads" at all. They were 
probably " bridle-paths," used at best 
for saddle and pack horses. Nearly 
a century later, viz., in 1770, the im- 
portant road from Preston to Wigan 
is thus described by Mr. Arthur Young i 

'•Travellers will here meet with ruts, 

which I actually measured, four feet 

deep, and floating with mud only from 

a wet summer; what, therefore, must 
it be after a winter? The only mend- 

i ig it in places receives, is the 
tumbling in some loose stones, which 
^ rvr lui other purpose but jolting a 



carriage in a most intolerable manner. 
These are not merely opinions, but 
facts; for I actually passed three carts 
broken down in these eighteen miles 
of execrable memory." In the Iter 
Lancastrense, the roads in this part of 
the country are contrasted with the 
old Roman roads, thus : — 

Our w.nvs arc galpha of dart nml miro, which DOM 

■ , r [TMitll in HHUBfll without BMMUM ; 
WhUBt theirs through all J < world wcr. 1 lie 1. 

I nils, •, 

Ore hrolxou DIOOIW, it 09 BOM -, lako and f. ntn\ 

Now trorka ofgUnfcidMattd, nm arte of mm. 

In 1(>87. there appears to have been a 
road from Chester to Neston. but it 

was BO bad that a carriage broke down 
or ^tuck in the quicksands. 



TOPOGRAPHY. lo 

tapagi, Meols is represented as an oppidum. Again in 1G90, 
in the Index Villavis, compiled by John Adams of the 
Inner Temple, Wallasey is represented as the seat of one 
gentleman ; neither Leasowe nor Seaconibe is given ; West 
Kirkby is merely a parish ; but Meols is a seaport town, and 
the seat of one gentleman ! 

In Burdett's map of 1794, " the Bathing-place " is represented 
at Great Meols, as if it had been even then recognised as a 
Vet t. 'ling-place; and the shore road lies along the heath and 
sands to the seaward of the present Leasowe Castle.* At the 
present time much of this road can be traced, especially at its 
extremities, but the intermediate part has been eaten away 
by the action of the tide. 

4. — IXROADS OF THE SEA. 

That such erosion of the land has really taken place, 
though not so prominently as to attract universal attention, is 
evident from the following facts : — (1.) The first is, that Leasowe 
Castle, erected about 1593, originally an octagon, with turrets 
at the alternate faces, was intended as a stand-house, and of 
course was nearly in the centre of the Leasowe race-course.t 
It is now almost on the margin of the sea; and, though 
protected bya strong sea-wall, it is far from secure against the 
incursions of the tide. (2.) An undated map, said to have 
been constructed by direction of the late engineer, Telford, 



• A fuller nccount of the maps re- 
ferring to this part of Cheshire. i> 
given in the Transactions of the 
Historic Society of Lancashire and 
Cheshire, xi. 219, &c. 

+ This Miis formerly known as 
'• Wallissey Race ; " and is mentioned 

Under that name by James, Adam 

Ifartindale, Granville Collins, and 
Mackay, (1732.) Martindale says, 

"that summer (IG82) the Duke of 
Monmouth came into Cheshire to 



Wallasie Race, and thence to Bock- 
savage, Dunham, Moire, Gawsworth, 
&c." In Kin<js Vale Royal it is de- 
SCribed as " those flat sands or plains 
upon the shore of the sea, which, for 
the fitness of such a purpose, allure 
the gentlemen and Others oft to ap- 
point great matches, and venture no 

small sums in trying the Mviftm 
their horses." Kncroachmcnts hail 

been made upon it by the tide so 
early as 1G97. 



1G 



PART I. — THK DISTRICT 



wliich I have seen in the Dock Office, Liverpool, shews several 
portions of the land removed by the sea at different dates. 
This map has been published in the report of Robert Rawlin- 
son, Esq., to the General Board of Health respecting th 
township of Poulton-cum-Seacombe * It would appear from 
it that a portion of the shore, about ninety yards in breadth, 
was washed away between 1771 and 1792; that a second 
portion, somewhat larger, was washed away before September 
1813, and about twenty yards more between that date and 
1828. Thus we account for a strip of land, at least 200 
yards wide, which has been gradually removed by the sea.-f 
But this is not all. On the 20th of January of the present 
year, the outer Dove Mark was washed away, with the 
whole of the high bank on which it stood; its site being 
about ten yards from the top of the hill, to the base of 
which the tide flows. On the same occasion about twenty 
yards of the shore, near the life-boat house, was washed 
away ; so that the house, which was previously in a recess, 
now stands exposed. (3.) The site of an old lighthouse is 
given on Mr. Eawlinson's map, at the alleged distance of 
600 yards from the present one. This is improbable, as 
it would fix the site of it about 200 yards to seaward of the 
coast line of 1771, and it existed only from 1703 to 1771, 
within which period there is no reason to believe that so large 
a destruction of the land took place. J (4.) [In the surveys 
wliich were made by three distinguished engineers, § for a ship 
canal to connect the Mersey and the Dee, Mr. Niramo dis- 
covered a number of human skeletons, nearly opposite the 



* The inquiry took jdaee, and the 
Report ^Yils published, in 1851. 

t Bee the section on the map of 
the district. 

t Under the head of "Hydro- 
graphy *' more correct information ia 
given. 

§ See the Report h\ Thomai Tel- 



ford. Robert Stevenson, nnd Alexan- 
der Nimmo, dated 16th May, 1828, 
and printed in the Appendix to the 
" Report of Inquiry respecting the Cor* 
poration of Liverpool, L833." The dis- 
tance of the burial-place below high 

water i< Mated in Mr. Rawlinson'l 

Report, quoted above, Appendix C, 



GEOLOGY. 1/ 

Leasowe Lighthouse, and at the distance of between 100 and 
200 yards below the flow of the tide. Their number, and the 
regularity with which they were deposited, leave no doubt on 
the mind that this was an ancient place of sepulture ; * and, 
owing to the antiseptic qualities of the peaty earth, they may 
have lain there for many centuries. This spot would be within 
the shore line of 1771, the upper surface of which was not 
actually carried away, but lowered and displaced, by the 
removal of the subjacent beds, or otherwise. (5.) The little 
island of Hilbre, which was evidently once much larger than 
it is now, is being gradually washed away. The side which 
is most exposed has been faced with mason-work, by the 
Mersey Docks and Harbour Board, to arrest the progress of 
its decay. 

The following inferences, therefore, appear to flow naturally 
from the evidence, viz. : — 1st, that Meols or Great Meols was 
relatively of much greater importance two or three centuries 
ago than it is now — 2nd, that it lay on the high-road round the 
peninsula, and that it was the direct terminus of a road lead- 
ing seaward along the peninsula — 3rd, that the land then 
extended further to seaward than it does at present. 

Similar inquiries in other -departments tend to confirm some 
of these inference 



III. — GEOLOGY. 

An interesting paper, on the larger subject of the Geology 
of the Country all round Liverpool, read at one of their 

^ * A deserted burial-place is soon 
forgotten. Owing to tin; necessity for 
uniting parishes, there are many in 
Ireland; and the traditions respect- 
ing each usually die ont in the gene- 
ration which sueeeeds the last inter- 
ment. The old grave-yard of the 



village ofFormby has be< o Bupersed< d 

for more than a century ; and, as tin- 
village has been removed to a dis- 
tance, it is rarely used except for the 
Roman Catholic neighbours, [n a 
few years the "chaff-sands" will pro- 
bably have buried it also. "N 



J > 



PART I. — THE DISTRICT. 



meetings by G. H. Morton, F.G.S., has just been published 
by our local Naturalists' Field Club. It is copiously illustra- 
ted ; and the hundred of Wirrall is part of the country which 
is investigated. On previous occasions similar investigations* 
have been undertaken, and attempts have been made to ac- 
count for the existence of several obvious historical changes, 
as well as to explain existing facts. Most of the following 
statements are coincident with the views of these writers ; 
and to Mr. Morton I am indebted for the sketches from 
which the illustrations have been made. 

Ascending from bottom to top, the strata are arranged in 
three f great classes, which, if directly superimposed, would be 
6600 feet thick, or a mile and a quarter in perpendicular 
depth. From the facts of the case, it is clear that the coal- 
measures form a basin — probably complete, but perhaps only 
a partial one — in which the superior strata (the sandstones, 
&c.) are placed. The sides of this ba^in are visible at Huy- 
ton in Lancashire, at Neston in Cheshire, and across the Dee 
in Flintshire. Or, to express the same thing differently, 
there has been a fault in the coal-measures, which would 
otherwise have lain near the surface, and a consequent 
" downthrow " of the superincumbent strata ; so that we 
walk over the dislocated and abraded top of these, con- 
stituting as they do the varied surface of the ground in the 
locality. 

To the popular observer the relation of hill and valley is 
permanent, and we speak conventionally of the "everlasting 



* By Mr. Cunningham, F.G.S., 
especially, and by the late Rev. 
Thomas Dwyer of Liverpool; also 
partially by Messrs. Binney ami Hull 
of Manchester. 

+ 1. l'Ai..i:o/.oh\ including the coal- 
measures, or the upper portion of the 
carboniferous system. Thickness, 
4800 feet 

II. Mbsozoic, consisting mainly 



of red sandstone, formerly known as 
New. The upper hods of the New Red 
are now called Keuper and Bunter, 

ami the lower Permian; hut of this 
last none is found here. Thiekuess, 

1700 feet. 

111. PleistOOBKB, or most modern 
strata, occupying the surface wher- 
ever the older rocks do not crop out. 

Thiekuess. 100 feet. 



GEOLOGY. 19 

hills ; " while the water is fluid and impressible, and consti- 
tutes the " restless ocean." To the eye of science, however, 
the case is wholly different. The ocean level constitutes a 
fixed standard of measurement ; for the surface of the land, 
at intervals more or less distant, is subject to elevations and 
depressions, and to changes which are sometimes so gradual 
as to escape the notice of any particular generation. Within 
the area to which our attention is now directed, the principal 
changes to be noted are the following : — 

(1.) Filling up of Ricer Beds, &c. — Before the accumulation 
of Post-glacial deposits, the elevated ridges of sandstone were 
separated by valleys, the lowest parts of which were probably 
chasms, clefts, and ravines. These were gradually tilled up 
by the debris from the denuded or higher strata, till, instead 
of sharp abrupt angles, a graceful undulating surface was 
produced such as we see. The channels of our rivers origi- 
nally consisted of such valleys, and so did those of the smaller 
streams; some of which (like the Mersey) have been kept open 
to the present time, and perhaps enlarged by the increased 
action of water. But it frequently happens in the case of 
lagoons or shallow lakes, and rivers whose waters are greatly 
diffused, that by the accumulation of vegetable and earthy 
matter from the surrounding elevations, as well as of diluvium 
brought in by the currents, the water is diminished. The 
bottoms, then, go through a series of progressive changes — 
becoming "blind lakes," quagmires, marshes, meadow-lam Is 
occasionally flooded, and lastly arable ground. Sometimes 
the river, flowing from a lake or basin, deepens its own 
channel till it drains away lli<' source <>i" its supply. In this 
part of Cheshire we can trace the course of several dried 
channels, as in the low Land nearly coincidenl with the 
EUesmere canal at the south of the peninsula <»{" Win-all; the 
line of the Mersey continued up the Weaver \ and the Birket, 
through Wallasey pool connecting it with the sea These are 
lot now covered by tidal waters, though the names of places, 



20 



PART I. — THE DISTRICT. 



the existence of marine shells, and the presence of long low 
valleys just above tidal influence, concur in shewing that 
they were so * within the Historic period. So slight is 
their elevation above high-water mark, that it is not neces- 
sary to imagine an upheaval of the district. It is more 
likely that the detritus from the land produced the effect : 
in short, that the change was from above, not from below. 

(2.) Subsidence of Portions of the District. — The cuttings 
which have been made in the course of public improvements on 
both sides of the river Mersey, seem to shew a subsidence of 
the strata of about fifty feet. In the year 1829, in the excava- 
tions on the site of the Old Dock, for the purpose of erecting 
the present Custom-house, two peat or forest beds were 
discovered. The first, which was a foot in depth, had over it 
nineteen feet of water, and nine of dock silt, white sand, and 
blue silt ; and the second, which was lower down, and of the 
same thickness, was separated from it by a bed of blue silt 
ten feet thick. In both the peat beds, there were trunks and 
portions of the trunks of trees; and in the intermediate 
stratum of blue silt there were the horns of the stag, f 
Another cutting was made during the construction of the 
North Docks near Bootle, when a bed of peat, with forest 
plants and trees, was found thirty-five feet below high-water 
level. The superincumbent beds were water, sand, and blue 
silt ; and immediately below the forest bed was sandstone. \ 

On the Cheshire side of the river, the evidences of sub- 
sidence are equally clear. The creek, formerly known as 
Wallasey Pool, and now called the Great Float, covers 
nearly 250 acres at spring tides, below the embankment 
where the Birket discharges its waters through a tunnel. On 
Mackenzie's chart, surveyed in 1760, the depth is marked as 



♦"For even cities, oil boatman 1 


f Newspaper Account, quoted by 


•lie as men do, and, what is more 


Mr. Morton, p. 40. 


remarkable, whole rivers also."— 


% Mr. Cine, O.B., quoted by Mr. 


Lucuzn, Diahgui <•/ Mercury and 


Morton, j». 45, 


{ liaroftt 





GEOLOGY. 



21 



twenty fathoms opposite its mouth ; yet in 1828 there were 
only seventeen feet of water up to the embankment. It is 
clear, therefore, that in the interval, the depth had been 
regularly diminishing. In 1858, in the course of excavations 
for the Birkenhead New Docks, the character of the bottom 
was disclosed. The sloping sides of the Pool presented traces 
of having been a natural surface at one time, covered with 
large trees. The trunk of one of these, apparently occupying 
the position where it had grown, was seven feet four inches 
in circumference, though much of the wood had been torn 
away.* Above this ancient forest bed was a deposit of mud, 
at least ten feet deep in the middle. Farther, about ten feet 
below the original bed of the Pool, was found a human skull, 
and the leg-bone of (probably) a red-deer. The former was 
that of an adult, but of small size, particularly in the frontal 
Region. Several horns and portions of skulls of the Bos 
primigenius were also discovered; some of the horns lying at 
the root of a tree near the upper end of the Pool. There were 
also found a skull of the Bos longifrons (Plate XXXIL, 2a, 
horns and bones of the Cervus elaphus, and the rib-bone 
if a Cetaceanrf The forest bed of the Wallasey Pool rests on 
boulder-clay, and those of the Bootle Docks and Custom- 
house on sandstone ; so that there seems to have been a 
subsidence, not of one stratum, but of the whole mas., 
probably before the period with which history makes lis 
acquainted. 



* Extensive land-slips have taken 
place on the hanks of the Mersey, as 
irhere ; and Mr. Cunningham re- 
fer-; to one in which part of the garden 
connected with the Egremont hotel 
was carried down to the shore. A 
fruit-tree, maintained its erect posit ion 
for at least nine months, Standing 
upright on the rock when all the Boil 
bad been washed away from it. This 
shows what is possible ; but it will 
probahly be regarded as nn exceptional 



occurrence. One trunk in Wallasey 
Pool might ha\ e been accounted for in 
the same way ; hut we have to account 
for hundreds, some of which grew 
and fell on a flat surface. ( )rmcrod 
(Hist. Cheek, ii., 262) mentions the 
tradition, that "a man might have 
gone from tree-top to trie- top from 
the M" to Birkenhead." 

t Transactions of the Historic So- 
ciety of Lancashire and Cheshire, x. 
265. 



Tl PART I. — THE DISTRICT. 

(3.) There have been several land surfaces. — This fact has 
been noticed incidentally, in the mention which occurs of the 
excavation for the Custom-house ; but it requires to be 
specially referred to, for reasons which will be apparent. 
The line from Leasowe lighthouse along the shore to the 
Dove landmark, is nearly a mile and a half, and both 
extremities of it are interesting. At the latter place the 
antiquities are procured ; at the former the land is low, and 
the irruptions of the sea are prevented by a large artificial 
embankment. At the Dove Point, a section to seaward 
presents the following appearances : * — 

Sand HUls 

ft N 







« i rfEWTTT 3« 



Strata at Dove Toint. 

1. The sandhills. 

2. Peat bed about a foot thick (over which are traces of 
cultivation in sandy earth, with recent shells, bones, 
and teeth). 

3. Blue silt, a foot thick. 

4. Large forest bed, three feet thick, containing trunks of 
gigantic trees. On this portion the principal Roman 
filndce hare been found. 

5. Blue silt, between two and three feet thick, penetrated 
by vegetable fibre. 

6. Lower forest bed, with remains of trees — a foot thick. 

7. Boulder clay. 

The tide rises to the base of the sandhilla 



* On the 23rd September, 1862, I 
visited the spot in company with the 
member* of the Liverpool Geological 



Society, and verified all these state- 
ments. 



GEOLOGY. 23 

On comparing this with the section at the lighthouse, we 
see what beds disappear in the short distance : — 



Evibankmenl. 











U "JEW ITT S si 



Strata at the Liglitliouse. 

The sandhills are absent. 

The land surface answers to No. 2 in the former section. 

Numbers 4 and 5 are absent; but in their places we 

have a bed of drift sand two feet deep, marked 3 in 

this section. The lower submarine forest bed 6 is here, 

and the boulder-clay 7 beneath it. 
Materials to form the embankment have been taken from 

the cutting between the lighthouse and it. 
It was at one time supposed that these various forest beds, 
or land surfaces, rested upon sand, and that, as the action of 
the sea washed it from under the first or lowest, it sunk as 
far inland as the sea thus operated. This view is expressed 
in the following quotation — " We have all heard of submarine 
forests ; that is, remnants of once sylvan ground, now covered 
by the sea at high water, and presenting stumps of large trees 
mingled with moss, sand, and silt. It was at first generally 
concluded that these submerged forests were proofs of local 
subsidence of the land in recent times. But Mr. John Cun- 
ningham of Liverpool, investigating the subject a few years 
ago, by the examination of the well-known Leasowe submerged 
forest at the mouth of the Mersey, found, on boring through 
the boulder clay, a quicksand, and has very reasonably sug- 
gested that the subsidence in these cases is caused by the 
attack of the sea upon the sand-beds of the boulder-clay, 
sweeping it out, and so causing the ground Bimply to collapse— 



24 PABT I. — THE DISTRICT. 

a minor, yet still interesting phenomenon." * But, while the 
three distinct surfaces can thus be accounted for, why are 
the facts at one spot so different from those of adjacent ones ? 
Mr. Morton is satisfied that the three beds of black earth 
(numbered here 2, 4, and 6) converge towards the south or 
land side, the two lower becoming blended in one, as on the 



%. 



Convergence of Strata towards the Shore, at Dove Point 

section near the lighthouse. It is only at a particular point, 
therefore, that we trace three distinct surfaces, all of them 
more or less below the tide. In the lowest we have no 
traces of man ; in the second, or middle one, the proofs of his 
existence at the earliest period of our history are numerous ; 
in the third, or upper one, they are still more abundant It 
is not necessary here to examine the theories respecting the 
formation of these beds ; it is sufficient for the purposes of 
the present work to shew the facts respecting their position 
and relations. We have no sufficient evidence to show who 
occupied the lowest of these forest beds ; but the Romans and 
the contemporary tribes of the Cornavii (and probably the ear- 
liest Saxons), walked among the forests of the second. The 
early English people who inhabited the sea-margin, or made 
it a place for entrance and exit, lived upon the upper stratum, 
bui further to seaward than the pivsent coast line. This bed, 
though covered by the tide, and by deposits from it, is still 
continuous with the present surface. 

•"Ice and Water; :i Review of I bert Chambers, F.R.SJL, Ac. 
the Superficial Format ion." I5v Ko- I 



H1ST0KV. 



IV. — HISTORY. 

For centuries before Liverpool and the Mersey had attracted 
the attention of mankind, the ancient city of Chester, and the 
river Dee on which it is situated, were well known. It 
was the Deva of the twentieth Soman legion ; from the 
residence of whom it derived the two names by which it was 
afterwards known to the Britons and the Saxons respectively. 
To the former it was Caer-Legion,* the city of the legion ; 
and to the latter Chester,-)- or the place of the camp ; both of 
which names, it may be remarked, are common nouns rather 
than proper, and apply to several other places in England. 
Indeed, until the sixteenth century, and occasionally later, it 
was known, by way of distinction, as West Chester, J 

But although the barks of the Romans, which were dignified 
by the common name of ships, could sail up to the walls of 
Chester, it is not to be supposed that they, or any of the 
navigators who succeeded them, were unacquainted with the 
district which we are now examining. It lay on the high- 
road to the sea ; it was a u Chersonese," or peninsula, which 
they would be desirous to explore ; and, though wild in parts, 
and most probably peopled with still wilder tribes, it evidently 
possessed a good deal of woodland scenery even to- the margin 
of the sea. It would be morally certain, therefore, that the 
Romans were acquainted with the present neighbourhood of 
Great Meols, even without the numerous evidences of them 



* Episcopus Lichefeldensis migravit 
in Cestriam, quse olim civitas Legi- 
onum dlcebatnr. Fhr. Wigorn. in 
Monvm. Hist. Brit I., 644. Eadgerus, 
. . . . cum ingenti classe, Sep- 
tcntrionali Britannia circumnavigata, 
ad Lcgionum civitatem appulit. lb. 
p. 578. 

t They arrived at a western city in 
Wirhcall which is called f.<ga-reastre. 
Ang. Sax. ( hron. A J). 894, M ifonum. 
J 1 1st. Brit. /;, 367. 



X The town, still known as Caer 
Leon in Monmouthshire, was also 
known to the Britons as Kair-Legion 
(Hen. llimti iuhn<< us. Hist. Anglor. lib. 
I.J; and, as it was for many years an 
Archbishopric, the distinctive term 
was applied to Chester on the Dee. 
J!> (h in Moitum. Hist. Br i tan. I., 151,1*. 
••Called from its westerly situation 
ir*.s7-Chestcr." MolPs Cotnpleat Geo- 
grapher, 1709, p. 32. "Jt is commonly 
called West Chester." Bankes's Geoff. 
fol. cir, 1789. 



26 



PART. I. — THE DISTRICT. 



which we have found in the shape of coins and fibulae ; but, 
with such evidence, it is undeniable. Indeed, it is probable 
that this position was occupied as an out-post, not only for 
the purpose of embarking and disembarking with greater 
facility in their sea journeys, but as a permanent outwork and 
place of observation.* It is just such as a skilful commander 
would select at any time, in a country owned by people for 
the most part barbarous, and held by military occupation. 

Eespecting several centuries there is little definite to be 
gleaned from history ; but such knowledge as we possess of 
the peoples, the times, and the places, and the analogy of 
circumstances, enable us to fill up the void by conjecture that 
cannot be very wide of the reality. Shortly after the period of 
the Norman conquest, however, we find a glowing description 
of Chester, which indirectly brings before us the condition of 
the neighbouring districts. Lucian the monk treats thus of 
Chester : — 



"Being in the west parts of Britain, it stood very convenient to 
receive the Roman legions that were transported hither ; and, besides, 
it was proper for watching the frontiers of the empire, and was a 
perfect key to Ireland. For, being opposite to the north parts of 
Ireland, it opened a passage thither for ships and mariners continually 
in motion to and again. "t 

Elsewhere he says — " Chester itself is frequented by the 
Irish, is neighbour to the Welsh, and is plentifully served 
with provisions by the English;" J so that its connection 
with Ireland — then a place of much greater relative impor- 
tance than it is now — is not only referred to mere than once, 
but stated in detail. Yet, even at that early period it main- 
tained intimate relations with other parts of the world ; and, 
though the traders won 1 few in number, they must have been 



* It has been suggested by Mr. 

Hills, K.N., that Ililhrc Island was a 
station for observation since very 
early times. Every ship from Chester 
was visiblei whether an east wind 
carried it by Chester bat and alon^ 



the "Welsh coast, or a west wind car- 
ried it through the Hoyle lake and 
the Horse channel to the sea. 
t Gibson's Camden, col. M§< 

t Th. ;>:.:». 



HISTORY, 27 

much better known in a thin population, whose information, 
in a great degree, depended upon their own observation. 

" God has blessed Chester on the south side with a harbour to ships 
coming from Gascoign, Spain, Ireland, and Germany ; who by Christ's 
assistance, and by the labour and conduct of the mariners, repair hither, 
and supply them with all sorts of commodities ; so that, being comforted 
by the grace of God in all things, we drink wine very plentifully, for 
those countries have abundance of vineyards." * 

That many of these ships halted at the mouth of the Dee, 
or near the modern Hoylake, is certain ; perhaps waiting for 
favourable winds, or in dread of the sand-banks, which then 
were more troublesome to the navigation than now, because 
they were less accurately known. During the incumbency of 
Richard, second ISTorman earl of Chester, or some little time 
previous to 1120, he was in danger at Basingwerk Abbey, near 
Holywell, in Flint ; and the Constable of Chester passed down 
the right bank of the Dee, assuming, as a matter of course, that 
there would be plenty of ships to convey himself and his men 
across. As it happened, however, there was not one ; and, had 
it not been for a miracle performed by St. Werburgh, in reply 
to intercession which a monk of the cell of Hilbre suggested, 
no relief could have been afforded. A new pathway across the 
Dee was raised up, known in after years as the Constable's 
sands. The important point, however, is that Bradshaw, the 
monk of Chester, writing at the close of the fifteenth century, 
represents the waters near the mouth of the Dee as a " royal 
road," night and day, for vessels during the twelfth century ; 
thus corroborating what we learn from other sources. 

The constable congregate in all goodly hast 

A myghtye stronge host, in theyrbest arrayc, 

Toward Hilburgee on iorney ridyng fast 

Trusting upon shippes all them to convaye. 

Which was a riall rode that tynie nyght and daye, 

And when they thedyr came, shyppyng none there was, 

To carie all them over in convenient space. 

Life of St. Wcrburge. — Chetham Society, p. 168. 

* Gibson's Camden, col. 559. 



28 



TAKT I. — THE DISTRICT. 



Owing to the accumulation of sand in the river, and the 
diminution of deep water, the port of Chester came to be 
practically abandoned,* and Shotwick, lower down, took its 
place, f But this, too, was abandoned a little later ; and " Y e 
Noo Key," above Neston, was commenced about 1569. For 
more than two hundred years, or till 1791, this, or Parkgate 
adjacent, was the principal point of traffic with Ireland, and 
latterly there was a regular packet communication at least four 
times a- week. But, whatever may have been the nominal port, 
the water near the Dove Point must long have constituted a 
halting-place ; and there, we are told, that in the seventeenth 
century the larger vessels discharged part of their cargoes, 
to enable them to sail over the flats into the new and rising 
port of Liverpool. This would account for Meols being 
mentioned as a port ; and it would account for such occur- 
rences as that of 1585, in which sixteen pirates stole a ship 
out of Wirrall, but owing to contrary winds could not get 
clear off, and were taken. J 

Chester had not only been the scene of the periodical 
performance of the " Mystery plays," but at the close of the 
sixteenth century it was the resort of minstrels and jongleurs, 
and in other respects a place of great refinement. But im- 
pressions of this kind frequently suffered a forcible contrast 
in the minds of its limited population. During the first two 
centuries after the conquest, it was the rendezvous of the 
English army employed against the Welsh ; and, during 
several subsequent centuries, it was on the highway to Ireland. 

The incessant passing of the military connected with the Irish ser- 
vice of settlers (undertakers, as they were called) on confiscated estates, 
and of soldiers oscillating between the low countries and Ireland ; in 



* The sea is not so kind as it has 
been formerly, having withdrawn it- 
self, and deprived the city of the 
advantage of a harbour. Moll. p. 32. 

t Great ships in times past, at fidl 
sea did come to Watergate in Chester; 
but the channel is oowsachoaked up 



with sand, that it will scarce give pas- 
sage tor small boats, insomuch that 
Bhips now come to a place called New 
Kr\ . abont six miles distant. Blame's 
Britannia (1673), p. 54. 
X King's Vale Koyal. 



HISTOKY 



29 



short, the constant presence of fierce reckless adventurers, sufficiently 
kept alive a warlike spirit. * 

A few examples may suffice to show how great a thorough- 
fare Chester had become. 

1594. — There came unto Chester at several times two thousand two 
hundred footmen and a thousand horsemen, to go to Ireland, for the 
suppression of the rebellion of Hugh Fardorough, Earl of Tyrone : 
the mayor had much ado to keep the soldiers quiet, and caused a 
gibbet to be set up at the high cross, whereon three soldiers had like 
to have been hanged. 

1595. — There came to Chester at several times two thousand four hun- 
dred footmen, and three hundred horsemen, to go for Ireland. The 
clergy set forth the horsemen, whereof a hundred and fifty-two horse 
were sent for Ireland, the rest were sent back again, because they 
were not sufficient. 

1596. — Xine hundred soldiers came to Chester, whereof five hundred 
were sent for Ireland, and the rest, staying for a wind, were dis- 
charged and sent away. Also in the beginning of May the soldiers 
went last over, and six hundred more were sent back again. 

1597. — A thousand footmen, and two hundred and eighty horsemen, 
came at several times, and were sent into Ireland. 

1598. — The Earl of Essex, lieutenant-general for the wars in Ireland, 
came unto Chester, and with him three other earls, besides many other 
lords, knights, and gentlemen, who were honourably received by the 
mayor and his brethren. A great army of soldiers went over to serve 
in Ireland, both horsemen and footmen, all under the command of 
the said earl. 

1599. — The 14th of February the Lord Mountjoy, deputy of Ireland, 
and with him a great train, dined with the mayor the 17th of Feb- 
ruary, and departed towards Wales the 19th of February, to take 
shipping for Ireland. 

1C01. — Many soldiers were this year sent into Ireland, t 

It will be obvious, however, from some of the following 
extracts, that Bailing from Chester, or near it, really meant from 
any part of tin: waters of the Dee or Wirrall, though it is only 



* Paper by Thomas Ilcywood. Esq. 
Transactions of Historic Society of 



Lancashire and Cheshire, v. 88. 
f King's Vale Ifayal. 



30 



Taut i. — the district. 



in a few cases that the precise point of embarkation is 
noticed. 

1G00. — The army, consisting in list of 4000 foote and 200 horse, whereof 
3000 of the foote and all the horse "were levied in England, the other 
1000 foote were taken of the old companys about Dublin, and all 
assigned to meete att Knockfergus (Carrickfergus) the first of May ; 
that part levyed in England was shipt at Helbree, neere vnto "West- 
chester, on the 24th of Aprill, 1G00. And of these a regiament of 
1000 foote and 50 horse were to be taken out imediatelie vpon our 
landing, and assigned to Sr Mathew Morgan to make a plantation 
with att Ballishannon. 

The provisions wee carried with vs at first were a quantetie of deale 
boards and sparrs of firr timber, a hundred flock bedds, with other 
necessaries, to furnish an hospitall wthall, one peece of demy cannon 
of brass, two culverins of iron, a master-gunner, two master-masons, 
and two master-carpenters, allowed in pay, wth a greate number of 
tooles and other vtensiles, and wth all victuell and munition requisite. 

Soe wth these men from England, and these provisions aforesaide, on 
the xxvth day of Aprill wee sett saile, and on the 28th in the 
evening put in att Knockfergus, where we staide the space of 8 dayes 
before the companyes from Dublin came all vnto vs.* 

In the following extract of a letter, from the Hon. James 
Dillon to Ealph Verney, Esq., the locality is alluded to in 
general terms as Chester Water. f It is dated Cloncnllan, 
24th October, 1631. 

Within two or three dayes after my comming to the water-side from 
London, I (with many more) was entized a shipboarde by a flattering 
winde. Where we were noe sooner in a readinesse, and euenvppon the 
weighing of anchor, then there arose a terrible tempest. The winds 
blew beyonde measure high, and the rayne fell downe soe uiolently and 
soe fast, as one might haue thought that the flood-gates of heauen had 
beene sett wide open: We lauded presently, and truely 'twas well for 
us that we could doe soe, for had we stayed aboarde our liues had been 
all endangered, though within harbor. How soe, doe you deruande ? 



* "A Narration of the Services done 
by the Army ymployed to Loughfoylc, 
under the leading of mec Sir Henry 
Docwra, Kt." Quo. Ordnance Survey 
of the County of Londonderry, p. 86> 



f The term u common to the 
present hour. When used in refer- 
ence to anchorage, it moans the sta- 
tion known as Wild Koad, near the 
Point of Air. 



HISTORY. 



31 



I will tell you, sir. Our barke was beaten vpp to a fulle sea-marke, 
where she had her bottouie strucken out, and was vnseamed. Nor 
was it she alone that suffered in this storme. There was not a vessell 
on Chester water which escaped scott-free.* 

In the spring of 1689, when it was known that King James 
had landed in Ireland, eighteen regiments of foot, and four 
or five of horse, were raised in England for service there. 
This was the first army sent forward under Duke Schomberg, 
and which suffered so severely in camp during the ensuing 
winter for want of suitable conveniences, and even necessaries. 
1689. — In July most of them were commanded to Chester, in order to 

be shipped for Ireland. 
Most of them encampt about a week at Neston, and then on Thursday, 
the 8th August, about six o'clock in the morning, His Grace, Duke 
Scomberg, General of all their Majesties' Forces, Count Solmes, 
General of the Foot, and several great officers more, with not ten 
thousand foot and horse, embarked at Highlake,f for Ireland. 
The winds being cross they lay there till Monday, the 12th, when, at 
four o'clock in the morning, the wind being S.S.E.and S.E., the Bona- 
venture frigate (Captain Hobson, commander) fired a gun, and put 
his light to the main topmast shrouds, that being the signal for 
sailing. There was also the Antelope, the James galley, the Cleave- 
land, and the Monmouth yats, with between eighty and ninety 
vessels more, who all were under sail at six o'clock, and at eight the 
Bonaventure put out an ensign in the mizen shrouds for all the 
Captains and Masters to come on board, which done, they received 
orders to sail directly for Carrickfergus Bay in Ireland, t 
Iii the following summer large reinforcements of military 
passed over at several times. The account of one of these is 
given by Dean Davies. § 



* Verney Papers, Camden Society, 
pp. 148, 149. 

t John Van Zoelen, apparently one 
of the officers in the Duke's army, 
died here on 3rd of September, and 
is buried in West Kirkby church. He 
was formerly of Bristol ; and be ap- 
pears to have become ill about the 
time of the embarkation. See refer- 
ences to him in Leigh's Lancashire, 
p. 29; Ormerod's Hist. Chesh., ii. 



267 ; and Transact, of Hist. Soc, 
vii. 15. 

I Impartial History of the Affairs 
in Ireland ; written by an eyewitness 
to the most remarkable passages, 
1691, p. 6. (From the edition of 
1(39:5, it appears that he was the Rcy. 
George Storey, chaplain to the regi- 
ment, formerly Sir Thomas Gower's, 
afterwards the Karl of Drogheda's.) 

§ Diary, Camden Society, p. 108, &c. 



32 



PART I. — THE DISTRICT. 



1C90. — April 26 (Sat.) — We dined at our lodgings (in Chester), and 
after dinner they all grew very busy in sending their things away to 
Hoylake, where lay our recruits of horse, being four hundred, and the 
Nassau and Brandenburg regiments. 

27th (Sund.) — In the morning all our sparks were in a great hurry, 
the wind presenting fair. 

May 3rd (Sat.) — In the afternoon I put my trunks, bed, saddle, and 
hat-case on board Mr. Thompson's boat, and sent them to Hoylake, 
where they were shipped off with the Major's things. 

May 6th (Tues.) — In the morning we took horse for Hoylake, and, 
passing by Neston, we came there about one o'clock. At our coming 
we found the commissary at the parson's at dinner with Count Scraven- 
more, where we waited on him, and got an order for a ship to carry 
eighteen horses and twenty-three men. Then we dined at one Barker's, 
where it cost us each two shillings, and in the evening we went to a 
farmer's house, where Frank Burton and I lay together. The surgeon 
being of our quarters, we supped at the Major's quarters, about a 
quarter of a mile from us, and parted in the evening, with a resolution 
to be on board at nine in the morning, but the Major's tumbril having 
a wheel broken within two miles of Chester, it gave us some trouble. 

May 7th (Wed.) — In the morning we breakfasted at our quarters, 
and paid for ourselves and horses three shiLlings each. Then about 
nine o'clock came on board, and at eleven shipped our horses, all but 
the Major's carriage, which was not yet come up. The Major and I 
walked a mile on the strand, and went into two islands * in the bay, and 
then came on board, all the rest of our company being on board 
another ship drinking ; they all came to us in the evening, and we 
lay on board all night. 

May 8th (Thurs.) — Sir William Russell, Frank Burton, and I, went 
on shore to a French suttler's, and at our return the Major's tumbril 
came up. In the afternoon we shipped it, and came down to the roads' 
mouth, where we lay at anchor all night. 

May 9th (Frid.) — In the morning we set sail ; the wind being 
E.N.E., and steered N.W. by N. ; we had but little wind, and got not 
out of sight of Wales all day. 

We arc here made acquainted with several facta incidentally, 
at some of which we might have arrived reasoning from 



* Probably Hilbre and the Middle 

eye, the former of which is described 
in Blome'fl Britannia (1673"), as "a 



barren [ale called Efilbre, which, at 

low water, may he passed over on the 
sand," i>. :>-\ 



HISTORY. 



33 



probabilities. Thus (1.) it is clear that it was not unusual for 
boats to take luggage, and probably merchandise, down the 
river and over the flats to the deep water. (2.) It is not 
unlikely that the accident to the major's tumbril was caused 
by the bad state of the roads. (3.) We find that the farmers 
of the parish of West Kirkby, about Grange, Neston, and 
Meols, made charges like hotels for the accommodation 
afforded to officers billeted on them ; * and (4.) Hoylake (the 
water) is referred to, but there is no notice of a village. 

In the following month, William III., who, though king of 
England, was as yet only Prince of Orange in Ireland, passed 
over to lead his united forces in person. The army was encamp- 
ed on the Wallasey Leasowes; but this was the general name 
for the long plain of meadow land, of which Great Meols, near 
the Dove Point, forms a part. He was at Chester on Sunday 
the 10th of June, and attended divine service in the Cathedral ; 
and, passing down the river's side that afternoon, he slept at the 
house of William Glegg, Esq., of Gayton, whom he afterwards 
knighted, f It appears that on that very day Samuel Atkin- 
son of the Transport Office at Hoylake, engaged, by the king's 
order, Edward Tarlton, master of the ship James of Liverpool, 
to serve as his pilot to Carrickfergus ; J and they sailed on the 



* Sometimes there was great diffi- 
culty in obtaining accommodation at 
Chester, especially when the numbers 
which passed through were large. 
It should be borne in mind that its 
population probably was short of 
5000 rather than in excess of it ; for 
in 1801 there were only 14,550 within 
the old boundaries of the city. Dean 
Davies gives the following under date 
(Wednesday) 23rd April: — 

"At our coming we were severely 
put to to get entertainment, and, had 
not the Earl (of Orrery) got a billet 
from his colonel at the Golden Lion, 
we must have stayed in the streets. 



Here we got into a stable very ill 
accommodated, and a dog-hole of a 
lodging ten times worse. My brother 
and I lay in a bed not five feet long 
nor four broad, under a pair of stairs, 
being so small that we could not both 
go in together, but one was forced 
to stay in the earl's room while the 
other went to bed." 

t Taper by Joseph Mayer, F.S.A., 
in the Transactions of the Historic 
Society, v. 5. 

X It does not appear that he was 
ever remunerated, though, August 
20, 1695, an order was made to pay 
his widow X'l'5 8s. 0d. 

1) 



34 



TAUT I. — THE DISTRICT. 



1 2th * (actually Thursday but called Wednesday) from a place 
near the present Hoylake village, still known as the King's 
Gap. 

On Wednesday,! June 12, in the morning, His Majesty, accompanied 
■with His Royal Highness the Prince of Denmark, and several other 
persons of quality, embarked at Highlake, and the same afterwards 
went out to sea, but the wind wavering made not much way that day ; 
but on Friday ,f the 14th, the wind proving fair, made amends for the 
slowness of the two former days sailing ; and on Saturday, about three 
in the afternoon, His Majesty came into the Lough of Carrickfergus, 
with the whole fleet that attended him. £ 

It will thus be evident that the locality of Great Meols, 
near the Dove Point, on the plain of the Wallasey Leasowe, 
was not always the retired and almost unknown spot that it 
is at present. Within the limits of a single century we show 
that many thousands of soldiers and civilians, infantry and 
cavalry, passed near or over the spot ; and therefore vast and 
varied must have been the multitude, notwithstanding the 
scantiness of population, which, during at least two thousand 
years, trod its sands, or rested beneath the foliage of its forest 
trees, or sailed upon its waters. 



V. — ETHNOLOGY. 

Before the town of Liverpool had attained any commercial 
greatness, indeed, before it had secured a place upon the map, 
different tribes and peoples passed over the lands in the imme- 
diate neighbourhood, or made them their temporary residence. 
We know little of many of these, but we can tell at least 
something of several of them ; for it is the province of Ethno- 



* There is a tradition to the effect 
that William III. visited Liverpool 
before sailing, and the date is fixed 
as the 11 th. It is obvious from these 
dates that he had sufficient time to do 
bo. hut direct c\ idence is desirable. 



t Dr. Mnllenanx has mistaken either 
the days of the week or of the month. 

| A Journal of the Three Months' 
Royal Campaign of 1 1 is Majesty in 
Ireland, by Samuel Mullenaux, M.l). 
London: 1690. 



ETHNOLOGY, 



35 



logy, as of other departments of science, to discover laws from 
minute facts, and to read perhaps the name, the history,, and 
the manners of a race, from the few and faint impressions 
which their footsteps have left. 

The Mersey, like the Humber, was the southern limit of 
the great kingdom of Northuinbria, and it is said that Alfred's 
division of the shires into hundreds did not interfere with Lan- 
cashire. The Dee, again, which for several miles of its course 
is nearly parallel with the Mersey, at the distance of only a few 
miles, separated the ancient Britons from the invaders ; or the 
tribes of Cambria from those who inhabited England Proper.* 
But- it must not be supposed that the whole area, or even a 
large part of it, was covered with population; on the contrary, 
except in towns and villages, or along leading pathways, 
river margins, or the sea-coast, population scarcely existed 
in the earlier periods of English history. The greater part 
of the hundred of Wirrall, which with the whole county 
formed part of the ancient Mercia, was a forest ; and similar 
forests, but less extensively wooded, existed at Toxteth and 
Croxteth, on the Lancashire side of the river. To the north 
of Liverpool, a large tract of low land was only nominally 



* Bradshaw, about the year 1500, 
giving the limits of Mercia, states that 
the name is derived from the river 
Mersey. This seems to be inverting 
the order of cause and effect, as the 
liver may be derived from the name 
of the country. Mercia is usually 
said to mean, the border land (' ; the 
Marches," Worsace), because border- 
ing on the other kingdoms ; like the 
Merse in Berwickshire, the Marches of 
Scotland and Wales, and numerous 
other cognate words. 

Thi.s realme to dyscrybe, begyn we shall 

At the Cytee of Chester, and the water of Dee, 

IJytweene Knglande and Wales of I 

The water of llunibrc was on the nortli Bj >!•■. 

With the water of Hera e theyi Ian 

Of the foreaayd rynar and water ol U 
The Kynge of 1 



As moost sure dyuydent to be had in memorye, 

Mesurynge and nietynge the bondes with great 
fa'ne, 

Of Mersee and North umberlande, kynges of the 
same, 

Betweene Chesshyr and Lancashyr their king- 
domes certayne, 

As auncyent Cronycles descryben it full playne. 

The principal cities and towns with- 
in the limits of Mercia are enumerated 
by Bradshaw from the old Chronicles, 
as follows: — Chester,Stafford,Lytche- 
feldc, Coventre, Lyncolne, Huntyng- 
don, Northampton, Leyccster, Derby, 
Cambrydge, Oxonford, Worchester, 
Brystowc, and Ilerforde. Three of 
these, in italics, were among the Five 
Burghs that belonged to the Danes. — 

WoTWMZi p. 31, 



36 PAKT I. — THE DISTRICT. 

possessed by man ; it was in reality a marsh, unproductive 
as pasture, and still more so for purposes of cultivation. A 
similar marsh existed, and, as we have seen, still exists, on 
the Cheshire side. Some suppose that the Mersey was ori- 
ginally an inland lake, communicating with the sea through 
Wallasey Pool, along Bidston Marsh, and out by Leasowe 
lighthouse ; and, without either admitting or rejecting this 
hypothesis, there are facts w T hich give it an air of considerable 
probability. In either case, the propositions to which I wish 
to give prominence will readily be admitted ; viz., first, that, 
from physical causes, the population who nominally inhabited 
the country were actually restricted within comparatively 
narrow limits ; and, second, that we must search within those 
limits for indications of a really ancient character. 

If we turn to histories and chronicles, we find that amongst 
the earliest inhabitants were the Brigantcs in Lancashire, 
whose character is in part indicated by the word " brigand," 
derived from them; and the Cornavii in Cheshire. The 
Eoman people were long and intimately connected with Ches- 
ter, which constituted the home of the Twentieth Legion ; and 
the memorials of their residence may still be seen in various 
parts of the city. At a subsequent period the Saxon element 
was strong on both sides of the Mersey, and Chester became a 
Saxon frontier town, from which a dynasty of earls or princes 
derived their title. In their Saxon character both Cheshire 
and Lancashire were alike ; though thev belonged to different 
kingdoms of the heptarchy. 

In 894, the Danish sea-king Hastings arrived at Chester, 
and took and fortified it; but lie was eventually driven out 
by Alfred, and forced to retreat through North Wales.* 

* A.I). 894. — "When they had come their wives, and their ships, and their 

into Essex, to their fortress and wealth to the Kasr Angles, and went 

their ships, then the survivors again at one stretch, day nnd night, until 

gathered a great army from among they arrived at a western city in 

the Bast Angles and the Northnm- Wirral, w Inch is called Lcg.\-eeastcr. 

brians, before winter, and committed Then were the forces unable to come 



ETHNOLOGY. 



37 



This, however, was not the only visit of the Danes • for, though 
the indications of their presence are stronger at a greater dis- 
tance from Liverpool, in Lancashire, they are here sufficiently 
plain to show that settlements had been effected, and perma- 
nent interests cultivated.* The relation of the Normans to the 
district is better known, but they never formed a large portion 
of the population ; and, except as mere masters or lords of the 
soil, they exercised but a small influence on the people. 

If we turn to examine an ordinary map, we find these facts 
singularly illustrated. For example, in the same manner as 
in the north of Ireland or the south of Scotland, we occasion- 
ally meet with a Celtic name which has survived amid a 
thoroughly Saxon population ; as Llandegan and Inch, Meols 
and Dove, all obviously of Welsh origin. In Lancashire we 
have similar examples, which it is unnecessary to notice here. 

If we follow the line of water, along the river's margin or 
the sea-coast, or both, we find the traces of the Danes in the 
names of places. Thus, between Parkgate and the mouth of 
the Dee, we have Pensfry, Ir5y, Frankly, Greasfy/, and Kirkfo/f 



up with them before they were within 
the fortress ; nevertheless they beset 
the fortress about for some two days, 
and slew all the cattle that was there 
without, and slew the men whom 
they were able to overtake without 
the fortress, and burned all the corn, 
and with their horses ate it. And 
this was about a twelvemonth after 
they first came hither over sea." — 
Saxon Chronicle. 

* There is a St. Olave's Church in 
Chester, named from Olaf, King and 
Saint, in whose reign (1001-2G) Chris- 
tianity was introduced into Sweden. 
From a church dedicated to the same 
saint in London, the name Tooley 
Street (St. Olave's Street) is derived. 
The Chester Church is noticed by 
Worsaas, as well as St. Olave's Lane. 
— Danes and Norwegians, p. 30. The 
Danish names Kirk by, Kirkdale, Cros- 



by, serve to show that when they were 
given, Christianity had been intro- 
duced ; in other words, that they were 
not given by mere predatory mariners, 
but by persons resident, and in an 
advanced stage of civilization. 

t The termination "by (Old North- 
ern byr, first a single farm, afterwards 
a town in general), as in Kirby or 
Kirkby, llisby, &c. ; ey or oe, an isle; 
dale, haugh, or how (Scandinavian, 
hauge, a hill);" .... together with 
many others. — Worsaa:, Danes and 
Norwegians, p. 67. See also Pro- 
fessor Munch's Geographical Eluci- 
dations of Scottish and Irish Local 
Names occurring in the Sagas ; 
Memoires des Anthjuaircs du Nord, 
(1845-49) p. 208, (1850-60) p. 61 ; and 
Orthographic des Quelquea Anciens 
Noma Proprei Nordiques, p. 162. 



38 PART I. — THE DISTBII 

(West), besides ThingwaXL At the mouth of the Mersey we 
have Kirkby in Walley, or Wallasey ; and north of Liverpool, 
KirMsiie, Crosby, Ainsdalc, "Biikdale, and Yormby. Further 
inland, the Saxon names predominate, and in all probability 
belong to a later period; as Bebing-ton, Old-field, Wood- 
church, Up-ton ; like Everton, Litherland, Thornton, Huyton, 
&c,, on the Lancashire side. 

WorsaaB notices one of these places as follows : — 
" The name of the village of Thingwall, in Cheshire, affords a remark- 
able memorial of the Assizes, or Thing, which the Northmen generally 
held in conjunction with their sacrifices to the gods ; it lies, surrounded 
by several other villages with Scandinavian names, on the small tongue 
of land that projects between the mouths of the rivers Dee and Mersey. 
At that time they generally chose fur the holding of the thing, or 
assizes, a place in some degree safe from surprise. The chief ancient 
thl.trj place was called like this Thingwall, namely, Thing- valla ; 
originally, the thjing-fields? * 

In the Lancashire and Cheshire dialect the aspirate is 
assumed or rejected at will, and it is somewhat capriciously 
assumed or rejected in the proper names of every language. 
Thus we have Oreb and Horeb, Annibal and Hannibal, Jeru- 
salem and Hierusalem; and, in our own case, Hbre and 
Hilbre. I have not found an example of the aspirate being 
prefixed to the termination eye or is-land, which occurs 
where on the Dee, as in the Uoodee (or Island of the Cross) 
at Chester. Such a prefix would giye us a simpler translation 
of Hcyc-pol, as it would then be the pool of the island, and 
almost the exact equivalent of " lacus de Hildburg eye." The 
imparting of the name hoes to the sandhills, indicates the 
current use of Scandinavian common nouns, as no doubt in 
other cases also. -J- Nor arc the kindred Saxon terms wanting. 

* The Danes and Norwegians, with a comb; /«'</, to remove; rise, 

].. 70. underwood ; scirn, ordjLTO of hearts; 



t The following are a few out of 

many words of Danish origin, which 

till current in this part of Che- 

I hire : /.. de, tO pray ; hid, to in\ ite ; 

bide, to Btay; frem folks, Btrangers; 
hiding, n j >ung cal ■. i •-/. to an 



shrike, to cry out; $leck i to quench; 
thaek, to thatch; uphold, tQ maintain; 
work, ache or pain. Compare Wil- 
braham'a Glossary of Cheshire Words, 

1836, and Worsaee'fl Danes and Nor- 

ns in England, pp. s ">. s,; - 



ETHNOLOGY. 6\) 

From the Report of the Charity Commissioners, in reference 
to Cheshire, it appears that the termination hey occurs with 
unusual frequency in the names of fields in the parish of 
West Kirkby. It is the same word which we find in 
Lancelots-hey, Hackins-key, Tempest-hey, and Court-hey, of 
our own times ; or the Barne-, Milne-, Kilne-, Parlour-, 
Sconce-, and "Walnote-heys of the map of Liverpool, 1650. 
It is sometimes spelled Hay, and Haw (Saxon, haeg), and 
denotes a close or small piece of land near a house. Camden 
expounds it, " a little meadow lying in a valley." * 

In connection with local names one remark may be made 
respecting pergonal names. It is generally stated that sur- 
names became common in the twelfth century, or at a period 
when all these sets of people had made themselves known in 
the neighbourhood, and had employed their respective lan- 
guages in the formation of names of places. Now, there is not 
a county in England in which a greater coincidence exists, 
than in Lancashire, between the names of persons and of 
>. Almost every township has given origin to a family 
surname ; and the same may be said, to a somewhat less 
,1, of Cheshire, yet, as it has been remarked, in this 
Hundred there is an unusual preponderance of Welsh names. 
Though some of these surnames, like Liverpool, are extinct, 
or, like Birkenhead, are nearly so, in general they survive in 
numerous representatives, not a few of whom are still, as a1 
the first, the lords of the soil. Accordingly, we have, indica- 
ftons of invasion, immigration, and change, not only on the 
surface of a well-constructed map; — then: are secondary and 
corroborative evidences even in the pages of a Directory! 

When we consider that, in addition to these, the district 
was frequently visited by the Irish, both in friendship and 
hostility, and that the soldiers to and from Ireland usually 
; I oear or over this spot, we are prepared for the miscel- 
laneous character which these relics preseni t<> aa In Wales 

* Bailey's Di< t. 



4a 



PARI !. — THE DISTRICT. 



tliey might be ancient British remains ; in Chester, Roman ; 
or in some spot of Lancashire, Saxon or Danish. But a spot 
which was exclusive to none, and on the road travelled by all,* 
is likely to afford traces of more than one section of the people 
by whom it has been occupied. We are thus prepared, a 
priori, to examine a miscellaneous collection, the details of 
which are here to be presented to the reader. 



VI.— HYDROGRAPHY. 

1. — Charts. 
The first authentic chart of the neighbouring shores, and 
the first English one which we possess, is that of Captain Gren- 
ville Collins, the survey for which was conducted about lGST.f 
Considering the avowed purpose for which this was under- 
taken — viz., for coasting service, and the avoidance of known 
dangers — it is clear that the survey was made in a more super- 
ficial manner than would be considered satisfactory at pi 
But it was no doubt important at the time ; and it is still 
useful as a point of departure for further information. It may 
be remarked that Mercator's projection was dcsigiu-d and pub- 
lished in 1550, and that it was only in 1599 that it had been 



* About the year 792, King Edgar 
was rowed down the Dee at Chester 
by eight tributary kings, four keeping 
stroke at each side. The countries to 
which they respectively belonged, 
sufficiently show the extensive inter-" 
course which Chester and the neigh- 
bourhood maintained with ether por- 
tions of the British Islands. They 
were Kenneth III. of Scotland, "Mal- 
colm of Cumberland, Macon of the 
Isle of Man, .lames of Galloway, 
Howell of North "Wales, Owen of 
South Wales, and two joint or sup- 
plementary rulers, Si'reth of South 
Wales and lukil of Cumberland. 



t Great Britain's Coasting Pilot ; 
by Captain Grenville Collins, Ilydro- 
grapher in Ordinary to the King's 
Most Excellent Majesty. London : 
folio, 1G93. He had been appointed 
in 1G82, by Charles II., to make oat 
sea-charts or maps, and a yacht had 
been given to him for the purpose, in 
which he spent seven years. This 
part was surveyed in 1687, tad the 
report was given in in 1T.89. All 
previous charts for England had been 
made by the Dutch, and were some- 
time-; verv erroneous. 





mP^ .-. 


sfT 


'■■'"Vi*!- 1 


l *f 


f"C 


9p 




II 






■vp? 


:• "«y ■ 






<* K c; ^ S 



HYDROGRAPHY. 41 

adapted to sea-charts ; so that the science of hydrography waa 
almost in its infancy at the time of Collins. 

With him the Dee was the primary river, and the Me 
only secondary; and he mentions "Nesson" and Dorpool, lower 
down than Chester, "where yon may anchor in three-fathom 
water." What is now the East and West Hoyle Bank, was 
then one continuous piece of sand called Hail or Hyle Ban I, 
which was never invisible except at high- water of spring-tides, 
and even then was shown by the ripple. The alterations in 
the course of the Dee have cut it in two, removing by the 
tidal scour more than one hundred and fifty millions of (tabic 
yards of sand, and depositing it at points where the water is 
in a condition of less activity. Captain Collins gives d 
tions for sailing along the outer margin of the Hoyle Bank, 
" and so into Hyle or Hyle-lake, and anchor. Here the great 
ships that belong to Liverpool put out part of their lading, till 
the ships are light enough to sail over the Flats to Liverpool 
There is a channel near Formby to go into Liverpool, where it 
is three fathoms at low water, but this place is not burn 
beaconed, and so not known." 

In 1730 a chart was published by C. Price, and dedicated 
to Joseph Taylor, Esq., but it was nothing more or less than a 
slavish copy of Collins's ; even the sailing direction- 61 
being copied half a century later. It added nothing, then 
to our knowledge of the relations of land and water, hut, on the 
contrary, was calculated to mislead. It was not tiil 1736-7, 
that the valuable chart of Fearon and Eyes waa executed, pub- 
lished in Liverpool the year after * [tpi 

superiority over all previous charts; lor, while tin- authors 
assert that no instruments had been employed before their 
time but the magnetic needle, tiny had themselves the aid of 
Hadley's sextant, which had become known in L731, th 



* A Description of the Sea-coast of A in Wales, ftc A 

England and Wale?, from Black to actual surrey made thereof daring 

Comb in Cumberland, to the Point of the yean 1731 '- 



42 



PART I. — THE DISTRICT. 



its full value and capabilities were not recognized until some 
years after. In 1755 an amended edition of this chart was 
published from surveys executed in that year by Messrs. Sum- 
ner and Eyes ; but few alterations are noted in reference to 
Hoylake. It appears also, that between 1760 and 1762 another 
survey was made by Murdoch M'Kenzie, published in 1776 ; 
and this was followed by a further amended chart of Eyes in 
1767, from which it is shown that the new channel was silting 
up with sand, and that the depth of water in Hoylake had 
been considerably reduced.* The reduction of water continued, 
owing to the same causes, until Captain Denham presents us 
with the following remarkable contrast, in the year 1844 : — 

"We look back only 150 years, and perceive Hyle-lake half a mile 
wide, with 15 feet water at its western, and 30 feet at it3 eastern en- 
trance ; sheltered from N. E. to N. W. by one extensive sand-bank, 
only covered at high water springs, and known as Hyle-sand. At the 
present time we behold it as a mere dyke, of 70 fathoms wide, having 
but 18 feet water retained at low water, in a small pool a quarter of a 
mile long at its centre, with but 2 feet at its western entrance instead 
of 15, and actually dry across its eastern, where there were 30 feet at 
low water ! ! " t 

2. — Lighthouses. 
The subject of Lighthouses is one of much interest. In 
1670 a Mr. Heading obtained a patent in connection with their 
construction ; but so little was understood respecting their use, 
that the Mayor of Liverpool (Thomas Johnson, Esq.), and other 
eminent burgesses, petitioned against them. The members of 
parliament for the town were then Sir Gilbert Ireland of Hale 
and Sir William Bucknall of London, to the former of whom 
the letter J from the town was addressed. It appears, however, 



* For much valuable information 
respecting Charts and Lighthouses, 
and indeed on the general subject, I 
am indebted to the valuable Essay 
on the Hydrography of the Mersey 
Estuary, by Graham H. Hills, Esq., 
Muster K.N., Assistant Marine Sur- 
veyor, Liverpool, 1858. 



t Dcnham's Mersey and Dee, p. 96. 
X Sir G. Ireland's endorsement — 
"A Ire from Mr. Johnson, May 1 
of liverpoole." 

On the back of the letter — 

"To the Hono' 
Gilbert Ireland, a 
Member in Parliam'." 



HYDROGRAPHY. 



43 



that their remonstrances were unsuccessful, for in the course of 
that very year the act was passed, making the Corporation of 
Liverpool "Trustees of the Liverpool Docks and Harbour;" 
and, according to the nsual practice, other matters related were 
introduced. Thus, authority was granted to construct light- 
houses at the entrance of the port, and to collect light dues ; 
but the latter were not to be levied till at least four light- 
houses were erected and in use on the Cheshire shore, within 
a mile of high-water mark. Though the Bock Perch was 
well known long before that date, probably as a look-out sta- 
tion, the Act declares that there were then " no lighthouses or 
other lights erected and set out." 

Now we know that of the four existing lights (one at Bid- 
Bton, one at Leasowe, and two at Hoylake), three still occupy 
their original positions, but that the fourth, viz., that at 
Bidston, replaces some other ; for it is not in compliance 
with the original requirements, inasmuch as it is not on the 
shore, nor within a mile of the tide.* Is it so, that there was 
such an old and superseded one, and if so, where did it stand ? 

It appears from a table of light dues in Enfield's Liverpool^ 
that the levying of them commenced 27th February, 1764 ; so 
that the lights must have been " erected and set out " by that 



Sir, 

Yesterday we received a copie 
of the Ord r inclosed, wherein you will 
understand what day the Comitee for 
Grievances will meet to consider of 
Heading's Pattent on Lighthouses. 
Therefore, wee make it our humble 
request to you, that on behalfe of this 
Burrough you will be pleased to ap- 
pcare in Parliam', at or before that 
tyme. In regard those lighthouses wilt 
he no benefit to our Mariners, but a 
hurt, and expose them to those dangers 
if [they] trust to them, and also be a 
very great and unnecessary burden and 
charge to them. 

We are, Sir, 



Your most humble Servants, 
Thomas Johnson. 
Thomas An doe. 
Henry Corkey. 
John Sturzakeii. 
Thomas Bick I! stetii. 
Liverpoole, 5th Jan., 
[16]70. 
The Mayor was father of Thomas 
Johnson, afterwards knighted, from 
whom "Sir Thomas's Buildings" are 
named. The date of the letter was 
really 1671; but the number of the 
old year was given by mistake. 

* By additional powers afterwards 
obtained, it was qualified to serve. 
t P. 87*. 



44 PART L — THE DISTRICT. 

time. It further appears, from Hutchinson s Treatise on Practi- 
cal Seamanship, &c* that " there were no lighthouses until the 
year 1763, at which time four were erected — two large ones, 
called the Sea Lights, leading through the channel to and in 
from the sea, till the two lesser, Hoylake lights, are brought on 
a line." 

In the year 1771, Mackenzie describes the Sea Lights as 
follows : — " There are two lighthouses on the shore, to direct 
ships through the Horse Channel ; one of which is moveable 
and stands near Mockbeggar, the other on the top of Bidston 
Hill." This passage, rightly understood, furnishes the explana- 
tion required. 

1. There were two lighthouses " on the shore," which is not 
the case with that at Bidston ; yet it was necessary to com- 
plete the line of light. Now, unvarying tradition asserts that 
the present one at Leasowe was originally the inner or land- 
ward one, but that owing to a fire its interior woodwork was 
all consumed. Nothing would be more natural, therefore, than 
to erect a light instead of it in the same line, viz., on Bidston 
Hill ; and thus the outer or seaward light, and that at Bidston, 
formed the two, till the repairs to the injured one were com- 
pleted. 

2. The outer one was moveable, analogous, no doubt, to the 
outer one at Hoylake, which was a wooden structure twenty- 
five feet high, with a suspended lantern. A picture of it is 
seen on the margin of Burdett's chart, 1771.t It is said to 
have been in existence till 1794. When the present Leasowe 
lighthouse was repaired, a stone one was erected at Bidston, 
and eventually both wooden ones disappeared. It is possible 
that this outer or seaward lighthouse at Leasowe may have 
been washed away, or some of the buildings connected with it, 
when their uses had ceased. There is a tradition to that effect 
in the families of the lighthouse keepers. The line upon which 
if stood is a continuation of that drawn through Bidston and 

* T. 187, quoted by Mr. Hills. | t Enfield's Liverpool. 



HYDROGRAPHY. 4D 

Leasowe lights ; and the distance between the two wonld corre- 
spond with that between the two Hoylake lighthouses. We 
therefore not merely ascertain the fact of its existence, but can 
fix its position with tolerable accuracy. It stood upon land 
now washed away, beyond the embankment, and on the black 
earth which covers the boulder-clay. 

3. — Eelatiox of Land axd Water. 

During the greater part of the seventeenth century, Liverpool 
had no dock ; but a sloping bank of sand or mud, covering the 
substratum of rock, intervened between it and the river. This 
is shown upon a map of 1565,* and also in a plan of the castle 
and fortifications of Liverpool, 1644.t The fact serves to ex- 
plain in some degree the remark of Collins — u the ships lie 
aground before the town of Liverpool, by reason of the strong 
tides that run here." 

In 1709, an Act was passed for the construction of the first 
Liverpool dock ; and power was conferred at the same time to 
erect landmarks and place buoys. Additional powers were 
afterwards required and obtained ; and the buoying and mark- 
ing of the channels was completed by Christmas-day, 1718. 

It is unnecessary to trace further the history of our Liver- 
pool docks ; but one thing in common with this and other 
improvements requires to be noticed. It is the tendency to 
increase the land, and to abridge the domain of the sea. The 
Liverpool docks have been said to be merely " an amendment 
of the river;" but if they give greater depth of water, they 
compress the channel within narrower limits. The same effect 
has been produced by the enclosure of the lands near the 
mouth of tli<j Alt, in accordance with the Act of 1742 ; by the 
drainage of Wallasey marsh, and by the recovery of marsh 
lands up the Mersey, near Frodsham and luce. This has 
abstracted an area of about 13,000 acres. In like manner, the 
pee ha.- been restricted to the limits of a canal below Chester, 

* Bib. Reg. B.M., 18 D. III. | f Addl. MSB. n.. M. 5027, A. 62. 



4o PART L — THE DISTRICT. 

and has been made to occupy a new site ; so that miles of the 

county of Flint now lie on the Cheshire side of it ; and, where 
ships sailed and fisheries were conducted, we find hay mown 
and cattle grazing. 

On the margin of a map by John Mackay, mathematician, 
published in 1732, is the following respecting the New Cut, 
near Chester : — 

1. That y e almost straight and uninterrupted course of y e river is to 
be turned through an inexperienced Cutt, and from thence through 
uncertain crooked chaunels over loose shifting sands. 

2. Tiiat y e land and soyle in y e Cutt is no less than six millions of 
solid yards, y e greatest part thereof is proposed to be scoured as fast as 
possible towards Hoyle Lake and y e Ban*. 

3. Between Chester, Flint, and Parkgate, 7000 or 8000 acres are pro- 
posed to be gained from y e sea, by which means no less than 200 mil- 
lions of tons of tyde will be prevented from flowing twice (Iwice in 24 
li ours), which on y e reflux requireth the greater velocity to scour and 
keep open y e Lake and y c Barr. 

Whether these ill consequences, which must certainly attend the 
present undertaking, are not more likely to destroy the present naviga- 
tion in Hoyle Lake and the Elver Dee, rather than to recover and pre- 
serve a better, is humbly submitted to y- Eight Hon. y* House of Lords. 

It is not probable that the whole area occupied by water 

was ever very different from what it is now, with the exception 

of these low marsh lands ; and the distribution of sand-banks, 

and opening and closing of channels, evidently follows a law, 

the exact nature of which we cannot yet explain. But enough 

has been said for our purpose ; which was (1) to show that the 

present shore * at Meols, and along the whole " sea-bord *' of 

Cheshire, is not that which existed several centuries ago; (2) 

that the spacious " Heye-pol," or "lacus de Hildolmrgoye." 

has become narrowed ; (3) that the level of the bottom lias 

risen from seven to seventeen feet above low-water level, and 

(4) that the existence of causes has been shown, more than 

adequate to produce the effects to which our remarks refer. 



* For further remarks respecting 
the Tidal Limits and Area, I may 
refer to the ltcport and Memoir of 



die Survey of the River Mersey, made 
in 1860-61, by order of the Mersey 
Docks ami Harbour Hoard, l si"<J- 



47 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS 



SECTION I.— INTEODUCTORY, 



I. — FINDING OF THE OBJECTS. 

In the spring of 1846 I happened to be in the parsonage of 
Hoylake, the village which is situated in the township of Hoose, 
near the mouth of the Dee, between Great and Little Meols. 
Observing on the chimneypiece a Roman fibula, (engraved 
PL TV. fig. 1,) a little hammer-shaped object like the tongue 
of a hand-bell, (Plate XXIX. fig. 13,) and other articles, I 
borrowed them for the purpose of exhibiting them at the 
Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool. This was, 
at that time, the only society in the town which included 
Archaeological pursuits as part of its general objects. 

It appeared that these and numerous other metallic articles 
had been found by an old man in the village. He had 
resided there since 1810; and, since about 1828, he had 
amused himself at intervals with picking up curious pieces of 
metal when the tide had retired. He did not attach much 
importance to them, and the best of them were given to chil- 
dren as toys; as the fibula and other objects had been which 
first arrested my attention. 

I soon made the acquaintance of this man and procured his 
whole stock, which consisted in a great degree of fragments of 
buckles, rings, pins, &c., with a good many pieces of metal 
which appeared never to have taken shape from the, hand of 
any artist. It served the purpose, however, of being sug- 
gestive; and witli no better materials than these, and the few 
BjBled articles which Mrs. Longneville of the parsonage had 

preserved, the first formal exhibition of them waa made 



48 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

About May, 184G, I took them with me to Edinburgh, and 

drawings of several of the most interesting of them were made 
by Mr. J. Noel Paton, whom I met in his native town of 
Dunfermline. These dfawingsy again, attracted the attention 
of Mr. Albert Way, who wrote to me fully and encouragingly 
on the subject ; and a brief account of them was read in July 
of that year at the Congress of the Archaeological Institute in 
York, where they were all exhibited. A similar account was 
read before the Literary and: Philosophical Society of Liverpool, 
and published in 1847 as a separate pamphlet of twenty-eight 
pages, with sixty objects engraved. 

Attention having been thus drawn to the subject, in- 
telligence was brought in from time to time respecting other 
groups of articles of the same kind. It was ascertained that 
three separate persons had carried away small collections, 
regarding them merely as curiosities; but not one of them 
appeared to have the slightest idea that the objects were 
antiquities, or of any value whatever as illustrations of human 
practice or human progress. Though immediate inquiry was 
instituted, not one of these objects was ever recovered. 

It is extremely probable that other collections, more or 
less numerous, have passed away in a similar manner, no 
importance being attached to them on the grounds which 
constitute their real merit, while one or two articles which 
were inherently curious or useful, or of valuable materials, 
were preserved from destruction. For example, I was in- 
formed by the late Dr. Traill of Edinburgh, in 1846, that a 
few years before — apparently before 1837 — a large number o( 
curious articles in metal had been picked up on the Hoyle 
Bank. They presented several characteristics similar to those 
of the objects which 1 shewed him, viz. : — (1) they were of a 
miscellaneous character in regard to the uses which they had 
been intended to serve; (2 they were of various dates; and 
(3) they were apparently very numerous. Though he referred 
me to several individuals in Liverpool as likely to possess 



FINDING OF THE OBJECTS. 49 

some of them, yet, as in the case of the previous " finds," I 
was not able to trace a single article. 

About Christinas, 1858, 1 was accidentally made acquainted 
with the fact, that some objects of this class, found on the 
shore of Great Meols, were in the possession of P. B. Ainslie, 
Esq., of Guildford, in Surrey. He had been a merchant in 
Liverpool, and had known the town since 1804 In 1817 a 
fisherman named Buchanan brought to him a large collection 
of ancient metallic objects, which he said he had found at an 
unusually low tide, near the submarine forest on that part of 
the Cheshire coast. Mr. Ainslie visited the site on many 
occasions after this, and his examination of it is the first which 
is on record, while his specimens are the earliest found of all 
those with which we are acquainted. 

In the close of March, 1859, I visited him, and made rude 
sketches from nearly a hundred of the Cheshire antiquities 
which he still retained. Many objects had been given away 
to friends, but those which remained embraced fibula?, 
brooches, finger-rings, hair-pins, buckles, leaden crosses, keys, 
a curious stone implement, a tobacco-pipe, coins, several 
needles, &c. One or two of the finger-rings exhibited traces 
of 1)1 ue enamel, 

I had drawings carefully made of twenty-one of the nrost 
interesting of these objects, and sixteen of them are repro- 
duced somewhere on the accompanying plates. 

Before the facts respecting Mr. Ainslie's collection had 
become known, but after attention had been drawn to the 
locality and the objects, the researches of numerous observers 
met with an ample reward One who knew where to look and 
what to observe, hardly ever returned from the shore empty- 
handed ; and the farmers and other residents on the coast 
soon learned that they could find a ready market for all they 
could collect. The names of one or two of the more recent 
explorers are well known; a young man who is deal' and 
dumb having been ajmong the mosl successful. 

K 



50 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

My friend Mr. Mayer, whose name is well known in 
connection with the promotion of archaeological research, 
made occasional visits to the place, and, having succeeded in 
interesting some of the resident people in the subject, he was 
soon in the possession of a valuable collection. This embraces 
about a thousand articles of all kinds, the principal of which 
are classified and arranged on cards. I am bound to speak 
in the highest terms both of it and of its owner. During a 
delay of more than three years, he has permitted me to retain 
possession of all the objects attached to the cards ; and in the 
accompanying plates, about forty-four per cent, of the figures 
represent selections from among them. 

About July, in the year 1855, Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith came 
to reside in Liverpool. He had some practical experience as 
an archaeologist, and, so early as 1852, he had published a 
very interesting quarto volume called " Reliquice Insuriancv." 
Knowing what a storehouse of antiquarian objects had been 
discovered at Meols, near Hoy lake, he visited the place 
frequently ; and the result is a more minute acquaintance on 
his part with the locality, and a larger collection of objects 
than is possessed by any other person. His objects, as a 
whole, are less select than those of Mr. Mayer, but they 
are very varied, and possess great interest, from the fact that 
a large proportion of them were procured by himself hi situ. 
Of the articles engraved, between a fourth and a fifth are from 
Mr. Smith's collection. 

To these may be added one other discoverer, Mr. (\ I». 
Eobinson, who visited the adjacent watering-place of Hoylake 
during several summers, examined the Burface, and occasionally 
dug into tli.' black earth, in connection with which most of the 
objects were found Ee was rewarded by the finding of 
several articles of great interest, though they were not very 
extensive Lo point of numbers. 

It will tlms be seen that six different collections o( greater 
or Less extenl have been examined in the preparation of ma- 



THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 51 

terials for the present volume. The period during which they 
have been procured extends over nearly half a century ; and, 
even during the present year, hardly a week passes without 
some new object being brought to light. In general it pre- 
sents no new feature, but is only an example or a variety of 
the types already known. 



II— THEIK CLASSIFICATION. 

A large number of objects may be looked at from various 
points of view, and may be analysed and grouped according 
to several distinct principles of classification. For example, 
we may analyse these according to their Ownership, their 
Material, their Use, or their actual Antiquity. It may be 
interesting to examine them under each of these heads, and 
thus to reply by anticipation to numerous inquiries. This 
will form an appropriate introduction to the detailed account 
of the articles, class by class ; and it will enable the reader to 
put each into its own position mentally, better than he could 
otherwise do. 

1. — Ownership. 

The following is not only an approximate enumeration of 
the whole number of objects examined — it shows further to 
whom they belong, and the periods at which they have been 
respectively acquired : — 



COLLECTIONS. 


numb™ of 
objects lmi1 raced. 


collected in on 

KOTOS. 


Mr. Ainslie's 


100 


1817 


Mrs. Longueville's 


12 


1840 


Dr. Hume's 


600 


1840 


Mr. Mayer's 


1000 


1847 


Mr. II. E. Smith's 


1100 


1856 


Mr. Robinson's 


50 


1849 



30G2 
Now, as three thousand objects of antiquity have been 
brought to light within the hist twenty years, it is not unlikely 



52 PART U. — THE OBJ El 

that at least as many more have been discovered and lost, for 
want of a proper estimate of their value, during the earlier 
periods of our history. Among the country people there are 
traditions of gold objects (especially coins) having been found ; 
but articles of this kind would be most likely to change hands 
readily, and to have all traces of them speedily lost, 

2.— Material. 
It might be sufficient to give a tabular statement of the 
number of articles consisting of each separate material ; but it 
will be more satisfactory and more instructive to show not 
only the degree of prevalence of the various metals, &c, but 
the peculiar sort of articles which was manufactured of each. 
The following is the result of a very careful classification. 
The plural form is adopted generally, though in a few cases 
there is only one article of the material mentioned : — 

Gold. — Coins, Finger-rings. 

Silver. —Brooches, Coins, Finger-rings, Spur (part of.) 

Bronze, Brass, or some other Allot/ of Copper. — Bells, Bosses, Bowl, 
Brooches of various kinds, Buckles of all kinds, Chapes of Scab- 
bards, Chatellaine ornaments, Coins, Coffer-handles and Mount- 
ing, Collar (?), Crucifixes, Fibula?, Finger-rings, Fish-hooks, 
Gypciere (part of), Hasps of various kinds, Hooks, Keys, Key- 
hole scutcheons, Nails, Needles, Needle-cases, Pendants (various^, 
Pins (large and small), Tags of Straps, Thimbles, Tobacco-stopper, 
Tweezers. 

Iron.— Anchor, Axe, Arrows, Bolts, Bell, Buckles, Buckle-brooches, 
Chains, Coffer-feet, Darts, Fish-hooks, Horse-harness, Keys 
(large and small), Knives, Musket-rest, Nails, Pendants (various), 
Skewers, Spoons, Scissors, Spurs (with single goad), Tags, and 
other objects, the uses of wiiich are doubtful. 

Lead. — Bolts, Beads, Bella, Bosses, Brooches, Buckles, Counters, 
Crucifixes, Ear-rings, Finger-rings, Hasps, Pendants, Pilgrim- 
signs, Spindle-whorls, Tags of Straps. 
Pewter.*— Spoons, Scent-box, Pilgrims'-signs, Coin, Seals, and various 
stamped fragments of unknown uses. 

* From corrosion, and other influ- I distinguish objects in Pewter from 
ences, it is Bometimes difficult t«> I those in Lead. 



THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 53 

' Wood. — Comb, Knife-handle, Axe-handle, Scoop. 
Glass. — Beads, and fragment of a King. 
Flint. — Arrow-head, Knife, Gun-flints (irregular drippings). 
Stone. — Crucifix, Spindle- whorl, Celt, Guhstorie, Whetstones, Sinkers, 

Cannon-ball. 
Pottery and Terra-Cotta. — Beads, Fragments of Vessels, Spindle- 
whorls, Tobacco-pipes. 
Amber.— Beads. 
Jet. — A small ornament. 

Bone and its kindred substances. — Bones, Horns, Teeth, &c, in the 

natural state, Knife-handle (bone), Mallet (deer's horn), Pin 

(bone), Pin (bird's beak), Dagger (tine of horn), Eing (bone), 

Spindle-whorl (bone). 

Leather. — Portions of Shoes, remains of Straps in the metal, part of 

Bridle-rein (?). 
Enamelled objects. — Roman Fibulae, Finger-rings, Strap-hasp, Leather 

ornament, Small Fibulas. 
The following figures show the proportions of the various 
materials, in a set of nearly two thousand five hundred objects, 
which belong to the three principal collections : — 

Silver 32 

Brass, &c 1714 

Lead and Pewter 29"5 

Iron 269 

Terra-Cotta, &e 14 

Stone 13 

Glass 18 

Wood 5 

Flint 44 

Bone, &c 24 

2428 

It thus appears that articles, of which copper is the base, 
amount to seventy per cent, of the whole; that those of lead 
and pewter amount to twelve per cent. ; those of iron, to 
eleven; of silver, to one and a third; and that articles of all 
other kinds of material reach only five per cent, or a twentieth 
of the whole. 

The following is an analysis of three hundred and forty- 



54 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

four coins, showing not only their material but their historic 
position — 



MATERIAL. 

Gold Coins 2 

Do., melted and broken up 31 
Silver, some halved or quar- ■> 

tered } 2W 

Brass or Copper 1 06 

Pewter 1 

344 



CHARACTER. 

British 3 

Roman 57 

Saxon 12 

English and Irish 249 

Miscellaneous 23 



344 



3.— Use. 

It is plain that the various kinds of metallic objects are not, 
and never were, equally in use ; so that some kinds occur with 
comparative frequency, and others very rarely. The following 
table serves to show, in some degree, what classes of personal 
necessaries were more prevalent than others ; but it illustrates 
an additional fact at the same time. For example, it may be 
assumed that only one fibula was employed in the dress of 
the Eoman gentleman, while five or six buckles were neces- 
sary in the equipment of a mediasval soldier, not to speak of 
the harness of his horse. Add to this the more modern use 
of buckles down to our own times, and one would be pre- 
pared to find a hundred of them for one Eoman fibula. Yet 
no such proportion exists, as the fibulas are many-fold more 
numerous than this ; and it is further surprising that the more 
elegant and artistic article exceeds in proportion the plainer 
and more homely one. It is an argument, along with others, 
that Roman influence was stronger on the spot than we sup- 
posed ; that whether these articles dropped from the living, or 
were interred with the dead, the persons whom they decorated 
must have been numerous and important, 

In grouping the objects ibr the glates, they were classified 
according to their real or apparent uses ; and, in order to give 
an idea of the comparative numbers, it may be sufficient to 
follow the order of the plates. Omitting the last live or six, 



THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 55 

which refer more to individual things than to classes, the 
articles of kindred character with those engraved will be 
apparent from the following : — 

Like objects 
engraved on 

Plate III. Eoman Fibulae, common type - - - 34 
„ IV. Ditto ditto, later, and of rarer forms - - 8 — 42 
„ Y. Circular Brooches - ■ - - - - 28 

Pin ditto - - - - - - - 9 — 37 

„ VI. Buckle ditto ------ 56 

Fermails 27—83 

„ VII. Buckles with Attachments - - - - 101 

Attachments only, or fragments - - - 37 — 138 
„ VIII. Buckles, complete ----- 151 

Ditto, fragments - - - - --97 — 248 

„ IX. Double Buckles - - - - 1 - 16 

Hasps with Lids - - - - - - 9 

Hasps generally - - - - - 66 

Hooks - 7 _ 98 

„ X. Hasps with two loops (see fig. 1 ,) - - 14 

Ditto with hole for swivel (figs. 7, 11,) - - 28 
Ditto with point for insertion (figs. 12, 14,) - 54 
Ditto with two inner points (figs. 18, 19,) - 19 — 115 
„ XI. Tags or Strap-ends - - - - - — 121 

„ XII. Strap Ornaments, general - - - - 35 
Ditto ditto, small (figs. 2, 3, 4,) - - 155 
Ditto ditto, shell-like (figs. 14, 15,) - - 17 
Ditto ditto, broad in middle (figs. 9, 12,13,) 19 
Ditto ditto, with animals (figs. 21, 22,) - 4 — 230 

„ XIII. Bosses aud Studs 124 

Small Ornaments (shield-shaped) - - - 8 — 132 

„ XIV. Spindle-whorls — 44 

„ XV. Beads, proper - - - - --41 

Other Pendants 5 — 4G 

„ XVI. Goad Spars 9 

Fragments of other Spurs - - - -4 — 13 

„ XVII. Iron Knives — 31 

„XVIII. Large iron Keys - — 12 

„ XIX. Small brass Keys 18 

Keyhole Ornaments - - - - -8 — 26 



56 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

Like objects 
engraved on 

PJate XX. Coffer Handles 47 

Ditto Feet 3 

Ditto pieces of Mounting - - - - 9 — 59 

„ XXI. Arrows and allied Implements - - - 20 

Ditto ditto, stone or flint - 5 — 25 

„ XXII. Needles 21 

Needle-cases -------5 

Thimbles ------- 2 

Hair-pins (metal) - - - - --11 — 39 

„ XXIII. Pins 29 

Tweezers .--.---fj 
Nails, small *-..-- 8 
Ditto, large 25 — G8 

„ XXIV. Rings in general - - 43 

Finger rings -16 

Small rings (about £-in. in external diameter) 45 — 104 

„ XXV. Ear-rings, various - - - - -- — 57 

„XXVI. Shears 1 

Fish-hooks 62 

Bells, or portions - - 7 

Spoons -- -8 

Crosses ----..-14 

Ear-picks -------3 

Metal of Gjpciere 2 — 97 

1905* 
This analysis embraces, as will be seen, nearly 2000 of the 
principal objects in the three leading collections ; and it may 
serve to show the comparative prevalence of the various kinds 
of articles. For example, the simple Buckles are most nume- 
rous, and the Strap ornaments next. If we add to the former 
the double Buckles, and the Buckles with Attachments in 
whole or in part, the Buckles and Strap ornaments amount to 
more than a third of the whole. If we had enumerated the 
various articles, of which specimens are engraved, on all the 

* The analysis which is given hero- I each separate article, has reference to 

after, under the detailed account of I these three large collection! only. 



THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 07 

plates, instead of confining ourselves to twenty-four, the pro- 
portion would have been a little, but very little, smaller. 

Next in the order of number are Bosses and Studs, Tags 
or Strap-ends, Hasps of various kinds, and Eings. If we add 
together from the various plates the several sets of these, we 
find that they amount to just another third of the whole. So 
that, of the objects which are represented on twenty-four of the 
principal plates (III. — XXVI.), two-thirds of the whole are 
denoted by the figures on nine* plates, and the remaining 
one-third by the figures on fifteen f others. 

The Fibulae, Brooches, Fermails, and other more elegant 
fastenings for the dress, given on plates III., IV., V., VL, 
mount up to one hundred and forty-two, so many as nine or 
ten of them being of silver. So that, while objects of this 
kind generally denoted persons of quality, a very large pro- 
portion of them were indicative of riches and good taste. 

4. — Antiquity. 

On this part of the subject, there is unusual difficulty in 
expressing an opinion. A common mode of learning the dates 
of antiquarian objects is by finding them in connection with 
others, the exact age of which is well known ; and in this way 
objects, long supposed to be Saxon or Norman for example, 
have been identified as possibly or actually Roman. In like 
manner, objects popularly supposed to be modern, and in some 
instances really so, have been shown to possess identity of 
form with others unquestionably British or Saxon. 

In the present inquiry, no such clue exists to guide us to 
the ages of any of the objects. It is not a " find " of British, 
or Saxon, or Roman, or Danish, or any other class of antiquities, 
but of numerous kinds intermingled; so that, besides the gene- 
ral resemblance of form which prevailed throughout various 
periods of history, we are bewildered by the acknowledged 



* VII., VIII., IX., x., XI., XII., 
XIII., xxiv., xxv. 



t in., IV, V., VI., XIV., XV, 
XVI., XVIL, XVIIL, XIX., XX., 
XXL, XXII., XXIII., XXVI. 



58 TART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

promiscuous character of the collection. Still it is possible to 
make a rough grouping, which shall serve the purpose of an 
approximate classification on the ground of dates; but it 
should be borne in mind, that some small objects among the 
conveniences of civilization have prevailed through many 
centuries, and were common to several national communities. 
In the following arrangement, the historic periods, as de- 
termined by races, are taken as the basis ; and, of the objects 
enumerated, each is mentioned in connection with one or more 
periods representing the time during which it is supposed to 
have prevailed. Certain animals, which were supposed to 
belong to some of the pre-historic periods, have been brought 
down to the Eoman era, by the discovery that they were 
actually slaughtered at that time for food ; and, again, such 
objects as keys, buckles, brooches, &c, prevail through suc- 
cessive periods. The goad-spur is found in two divisions ; for 
it was in use among the Saxons before the battle of Hastings, 
and it was commonly used afterwards by the victorious Nor- 
mans. Fibulas, of the kind noticed here, begin and end with 
the Eoman period ; and the specimens of rude pottery which 
occur, have probably their major aud minor limits in the 
Norman period, and that which immediately followed. Some 
classes of objects are not noticed in this statement, from the 
fact that little is known even of their approximate dates ; and 
others are omitted because they are common to all or nearly 
all the periods. 

In the Pre-historic and British _2>f?7eJ, which preceded Chris- 
tianity and the advent of the Romans, the Bos primigtnius 
trod the land where its bones are still found, and the 
Megac&rus Hibemicw, whose remains are also brought to 
light, may have been either a contemporary, or perhaps a 
predecessor or successor. The bones of commoner animals — 
c. g., of tin 1 red deer and roebuck, of the wild hoar and wolf, 
of the horse, the dog, and of man — probably belonged to 
some of thfi later periods; hut no attempt is made to assign 

any particular date to them. We may assume that during 
this period the Hint arrows and knives wen 1 in use. aud the 



THEIR CLASSIFICATION. 59 

flakes and sling stones of the same material, of which some 
examples have been found. 

The British and Roman period was of fonr centuries' duration ; 
namely, from the middle of the first to the middle of the 
fifth century. The earliest of our coins belong to this period, 
and the fibulae, both plain and enamelled. The circular 
ones (Plate IV. figs. 5-8) are of the later Eoman era. 
Within this period buckles, ear-picks, ear-rings, finger- 
rings, keys (small, brass or bronze), and horse-harness, 
were in use ; but whether any of our objects in these 
classes respectively were contemporaneous with the fibulae 
and coins, is far from certain. The Bos longifrons, in the 
manner just noticed, has been brought within this period. 
From the position in which a skull was found near Bir- 
kenhead, in 1858, it was rendered highly probable that it 
had been the contemporary of the Eomans ; and the 
circumstances attending the discovery of one at ^Vroxeter 
place the matter beyond question. It was indented as if 
by a violent blow, and a large iron malleus found near the 
place, fitted to the fracture. 

The period of joint British and Savon occupation was from 
the middle of the fifth till the early part of the ninth 
century, or nearly four hundred years. During this period 
the objects enumerated in the preceding paragraph had 
become of much more frequent use ; and there can be little 
doubt that several articles there enumerated belong properly 
to this period. To these we may add brooches and nails ; 
but it is a little curious that this long period does not 
furnish us with a single coin, unless perhaps the British 
ones, which are undated. It is more probable, however, 
that they belonged to the Britons of the Eoman period. 

During the Danish and Saxon period, the former possessed 
the eastern side of the island, and occupied numerous spots 
round the coast, while the latter still constituted the mass 
of the population. The period included under the name, 
was from the beginning of the ninth century till the middle 
of the eleventh. Throughout it all the common objects 
which have been enumerated were in use ; and it is highly 
probable that some of ours are examples belonging to this 
period. Towards its close we see the goad or prick-spur 
in use ; also hasps, leather ornaments, and strap-tags were 
not uncommon. 

The Saxon and Norman period practically embraced a century 
and a half, or from 1060 to 1200. In it the goad-spur was 
common, so that we know its major and minor limits in 



60 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

point of time. Pottery, of the kind found here, was in 
existence, with large iron keys, pins, needles, needle-cases, 
personal seals, and bosses and studs. Of course the articles 
already enumerated continued to exist, most of them in 
greater number and variety; so that, while some of ours 
may possibly illustrate the earlier periods of their use, the 
probability is stronger that many Of them belonged to this 
period, or the last century of the preceding one. 

The Earlier English period represents the time when the 
various ethnological elements had become fused into one 
nearly homogeneous mass. It extended say from 1200 to 
1400, and in thus employing the term with its definition, I 
do not interfere with the nomenclature of others. The 
goad-spurs have passed away, and leather ornaments have 
undergone modification ; but buckles, coins, rings, fish- 
hooks, harness, keys, nails, &c, still remain. It is not un- 
likely, however, that some of the last of our brooches and 
fermails, bosses and studs, ear-picks, ear-rings, needles, 
needle-cases, and pottery, belong to this period. Either 
here, or a little lower down, we should place thimbles, which 
are obviously more modern than the needles and needle- 
cases to which they are allied. 

The More-recent English period, from 1400 to 1700, brings into 
view several new objects, such as the axe, the musket-rest, 
stone cannon-ball, gun-flints, portions of brass guns, a 
wooden pail, and some of the more modern nails and fish- 
hooks. It is possible that there are a few things more 
recent still, or coining down into the eighteenth century ; 
but those who are familiar with such collections will see 
that such are few indeed. 

In size the objects range literally "from a needle to an 
anchor ; " but, in general, they are small. This is evident from 
the fact, that of nearly four hundred and fifty objects engraved 
hardly one in twenty required to be represented on a reduced 
scale. 

As indications of art. we find almost every stage of de- 
velopment, from the most primitive attempt to diminish 
human labour or increase convenience, to a very high triumph 
of human skill. For example, we have implements of bone 
or of stag's horn ; a gigantic comb from a thin board of native 
oak : a needle-case formed by squeezing the metal into a 



THEIR CLASSIFICATION, 61 

cylinder, like a piece of pasteboard, to be stopped by a plug of 
.wood ; a key formed to all appearance by compressing the 
sheet metal in the fingers, and then punching a hole at the 
top and riveting for the web or wards at the bottom ; with 
many objects in lead, which was more easily procurable than 
other metals, from Flintshire, across the Dee. We have, on 
the other hand, fibulas of elegant workmanship, buckles which 
were better suited to the circumstances than any which we 
now possess ; tags and pendants beautifully ornamented ; 
modes of fastening which are now either almost or altogether 
unknown to us ; and, in many instances, a beauty of con- 
struction and delicacy of parts at the very existence of 
which we wonder, and especially at its existence in the 
circumstances. 

In fine, here is a collection of which more than three 
thousand objects exist, such as contributed to almost every 
convenience and purpose of human life, and yet it embraces 
articles whose ages differ at least seventeen hundred years. 
It is surely deserving of a careful examination and descrip- 
tion ; and, even if one should fail to give perfectly correct 
impressions of it, the attempt is justifiable, and some degree 
of failure may be excused. 



SECTION" II. — DETAILED 



I.— FIBULAE.— Plates III. and IV. 

1. — Introduction. The following definition of the term 
Fibula is given by Mr. James Yates, in one of his excellent 
antiquarian articles in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and 
Roman Antiquities : — 

" A brooch, consisting of a pin (acits), and of a curved portion fur- 
nished with a hook. The curved portion was sometimes a circular 
ring or disc, the pin passing across its centre, and sometimes an arc, 
ihc pin being as lite chord of the arc." 



62 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



The term, therefore, denoted a genus,* of which there were 
many species; including afterwards buckles also, whether 
ring-shaped or of any other form. Though our English lan- 
guage provides us with many terms instead of this one, these 
are sometimes employed loosely and carelessly ; and indeed 
it is practically impossible, as we shall see, to say where one 
class ends and another begins. 

In the present article, the name Fibula is applied to those 
fastenings only which were in the form of an arc standing out 
perpendicular to the plane of the body, and which were em- 
ployed for use rather than for ornament. Fastenings which 
possess these general characters are very frequently found 
among Eoman remains, though other forms occur occasionally ; 
and objects similar in structure were not unknown among 
other peoples, though they were rare. But since, among the 
Eoman people, the arched brooch occurred most frequently, 
and since its use was in a great degree exceptional elsewhere, 
we have given the term here a more limited signification than 
it usually possesses. 

2. Various Forms. — The arched fibula is related to the 
curious curved object, with cusped or mamillary ends, of 
which numerous specimens in gold are la miliar to Irish 
archaeologists. The two ends passed inwards, like a double 
button which unites the sides of a gentleman's coat, and the 
curve which held these ends together stood out across the 
body. Intermediate between this and the fibula proper is one 
whose two ends are of uniform size and appearance, but with 
a pin behind. One of the most interesting examples is the 
elegant bronze instrument from Ardnakillan crannogue, in 
the county of Roscommon, figured by Dr. AYilde.-f* The late. 
Mr. J. M. Kemble thought it very ancient, and the finest 



* Virgil represents the Fibula as 
used (a) to connect the rohc ; (b) as 
a Fastening for the Baltem or shoulder- 
bell j and (c) as a hair-pin. 
(a) Am i pmptttMn iubn*etU fibula n 



(n) Lftto Qoam ciivuin unoleetttax auro 

Balfa ii-, it tanti rabaaoaU llialaif aw H i nil 

"Fibula, claviculus tXtMBUt baUtl imhihi.iu'- 
tfotfl OB 

(.) Fibula crituin aura Inl n nanlal H> rii. BU> 
f Catalogue of the objects possessed 
hy the Royal Irish Academy, p, 569. 




■ IN ) , 1BVLA) 



FIBULA. 



bronze article in the collection. Three similar fibulae, probably 
of Bomano-Frankish construction, were procured at Macon, in 
France, and are figured in the Transactions of the Historic 
Society of Lancashire and Cheshire, Vol. X., PL vi. The upper 
and lower ends are identical in form ; but to the one the pin is 
attached, and to the other the hook for holding it. In Plate 
xx., which serves as a frontispiece to Boutell's little work,* fig. 3 
represents a Pioman enamelled fibula with a sort of equilateral 
triangle at each end, ornamented with sixteen small equilateral 
triangles, of which seven are white, six black, and three yellow. 
The harp-shaped or bow-shaped fibulae, to which our 
remarks in the first place refer, may be seen on Plate III., 
figs. 1, 7, and 9 ; also Plate IV., figs. 1 — 4. Though so 
simple in form, it admits of a good deal of variety in structure 
and ornamentation. A glance at Mr. Akerman's Arclwco- 
logical Index shews us four of the Eoman-British period, 
from Devizes in North Wilts. Three of them have a cross 
bar on the top like our fig. 2 on Plate III, and the fourth 
has a loop at the top with a coiled spring, unlike any in this 
collection. It is known as " the rat-trap spring," and appears 
in three of the woodcuts given hereafter. Two singular bronze 
fibulae were found at Kirkby Thore in Westmoreland, one of 
which has four circular ridges on its bow or stem, somewhat 
like those of fig. 3, Plate IV, but it has a square loop at the top 
and the coiled spring, f A similar one exists in the collection 
of Lady Londesborough. \ In the Journal of the Arcliccological 
Association, Vol. II., p. 75, there is one figured winch is copied 
in the Arcliccological Index. The bow of it bears a rude resem- 
blance to a man standing with arms akimbo ; and the pin, 
attached as if to the back of the head, falls into a loop behind 
the leg. A beautiful bronze fibula from Lanarkshire is harp- 
shaped, the pin forming the string. § A very interesting one in 
my own possession from AVhittlesea Mere, of bronze silvered, is 

* Manual of British Archaeology, % Catalogue, p. 39. 
1858. § Journal of the Archaeological 

f Archreologia, XXXI., p. 279. Association, Xlll., p. 74. 



04 



PART 11. — THE OBJEI i S. 



two and a quarter inches high, and has a tubular cross-bar at 
the top, to which the pin is attached, two inches long. It is 
somewhat similar in shape to one given by Mr. Smith, Col- 
lectanea Antigua, I. 52. Another, rudely shaped, of brass, 
also in my possession, has a head and loop, something like 
that of fig. 3, Plate III. On the centre of the back is a square 
containing a circle of red enamel, and it has 
a penannular termination at the bottom. 
The spring of it is coiled. It was found 
at a supposed Eoman station at "Walton-le 
Dale, near Preston. In an ossuary* at 
Crundale, in Kent, a very beautiful one of 
brags was found, with numerous other 

Eoman Fibula from Crundale. ^l'tideS, UlOSt of them evidently Eoilian. It 

is described in the Invcntorium Sepulchrale,-^ and a figure of 
it is given here. 

Sometimes the stem or back part consisted of a mere double 




* Inv. Sep., 186. 

+ This was of coarse black earth, 
and capable of containing about six 
quarts. It is nine inches high, and 
ten in diameter. It contained, along 



with the fibula, burnt bones, coals, 
and ashes. The other vessel, which 
is of coarse reddish earth, was found 
along with it. Both arc shown here — 




Con paitfon Bottle. 



FIBUL.E. 



outline of wire, like the skeleton sliawl-pins which one sees 
occasionally. One of this kind was found at La Tene, on 
the Lake of Neuchatel, and is figured by M. Troyon in his 
Habitations Lacustres. * Two others are figured by Douglas, 
as found at Barham Downs, near Canterbury. | Another, 
still more simple in its structure, was found in one of the 
barrows of East Yorkshire. It is apparently a single piece 
of stout wire, the bow and pin being continuous, with a coiled 
spring ; and a small loop at the bottom of the stem serves 
to receive its point. \ 

Sometimes the object assumed the shape of an animal, as 
in one from the Fairford graves ; the stem or curved portion 
of which is in the shape of a bird. This is Angle-Saxon. § 
But a Boman one, much more elegant, was discovered at 
York, and is figured in Wellbeloved's Eburamm, Plate XVII., 
fig. 3. Other animals also were imitated, as the dolphin, which 
is represented in a spring brooch, the pin locking into the 
tail. The spring is a separate piece, and has been riveted to 
the head. It is here figured from the Boyal Irish' Academy's 
collection. A somewhat similar 
one from the Boman station of 
Little Chester, near Derby, ap- 
pears to have the body of a leech. 
Another, in the Boyal Irish Aca- 
demy's collection, assumes the Dolphin pattern. 

form of a snake with 
inflated body ; it is of 
one continuous piece, 
and the pin having a 
coiled spring, answers 
to the tail of a serpent, 
and locks into a pro- 
jection in the neck. 





» SO 

Roman, from Little Chester. 



* Hate xv., fig. 9. 

t Nenia Britannica, Hate x. 

and 3. 



X Wright's Essays, I., 24. 
figs, i § Arehueologia, XXXIV., 79. 



66 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



yrt*a«55*^V^ 




Serpent Pattern. 

Iii some of them a peculiar style of ornamentation prevailed. 
Four ancient fibula?, all of this type, are figured by M. Troy on 
as of the earlier iron age; Plate xvii. figs. 13 — 16. One of 
them has a little bird standing on the outer part of the stem 
or bow, and looking towards the point of the pin. They were 
all discovered in the tombs of the Canton de Vaud. He 
mentions another which has been presented to him from 
Cremona, on which there are three birds. And a Gallo- 
Jioman bronze fibula, in the Londesborough collection, has 
four little cocks or clucks standing prominently on the bow, and 
all looking towards the point of the pin. But more curious 
ones still exist. Among the antiquities found in Italy, Styria, 
and Mecklenburg, were bronze fibula 3 , consisting of a Hat 
strip of bronze about half an inch wide, with a coiled spring 
at one end, and a hook for the acus at the other. The whole 
margin of the bow was decorated with little birds riveted on. 
One of these fibulas has at its middle a figure, with the body 
of a bird and the head of an ox.* 

Some of the Angle-Saxon forms so closely resemble the 
Roman ones, that it would be dangerous to pronounce upon 
them, apart from the connection in which they are discovered. 
Thus, four were found at Ilarnham hill, near Salisbury, one 
with a projecting cross-bar, like ours. Plate III. fig. 2; one 
with the top and bottom parts nearly alike: and one with a 
broad rectangular piece near its hinge.*f" Again, at Filkins, 
in Oxfordshire, along with numerous circular and dish-shaped 
ones (noticed here under the title Brooches), were found two. 

* Archnologia, XXXVI. 861. I f Ibid., N ^XV. l>78. 



FIBUL.E. 67 

Loth very like ours. The bow of one is like fig. 3, Plate IV., 
in ours, but it has a coiled spring. 

Examples of the circular fibulae that are unquestionably 
Roman are such as the following. One was found near 
Devizes, coarsely enamelled; and is figured in the Archaeo- 
logical Index, Plate xii., fig. 17. Two interesting examples are 
given in Wellheloved's Ebuvacmn, Plate xvii., figs. 4, 7. They 
are of copper, and one is beautifully ornamented. Mr. Lee 
has engraved several examples of circular Roman fibulae 
similar to those we have called here " Buckle Brooches," but 
it has been doubted respecting one whether it was Roman.* 
A large convex Angle-Saxon fibula, now in the Museum of 
the Chester Mechanics' Institution, was found in a field near 
the city in 1840. It is of bronze, counter-sunk in sections, 
which are inlaid with red, white, and green paste ; the pin is 
gone, but the joint and part of the fastening remain. t 

Two of a very peculiar form are given on Plate III., figs. 8 
and 10 ; they resemble the letter S, and one of them contains 
the pin appended to it. One of similar construction was 
exhibited at York in 18o6, and is figured in the separate 
volume of the Archaeological Institute for that year, p. 35. A 
similar one is given by Mr. Smith in the Collectanea Antigua, 
Vol. L, Plate xxvii. In 1844, another one of bronze was 
found at Malton in Yorkshire, on a Roman road. It is 
described in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries, 
Vol. I., p. 295. These are all supposed to be of the later 
Roman period. 

The penannular fibulae given on Plate IV, figs. 5 — 8, are 
very rude examples of a kind well known. They are supposed 
to be of the later Roman period ; but objects of this kind are 
found not merely with Roman remains, but also among Saxon 
ones. Some of the more elegant forms are alluded to under 



* IscaSilurum ; or, an Illustrated I f Historic Society's Transactions, 
Catalogue of the Museum of Anti- I I., 28. 
quitiee at Carle on, 1802. 



08 



PART II. — THE QBJEl TS. 



the head " Brooches ;" and in Ireland especially they are 
numerous and varied, both of silver and gold An interesting 
example was obtained among some- Roman remains in York- 
shire ;* others were found at Fairford among Saxon remains ;f 
and numerous others are alluded to in the ordinary works on 
Archa3ology.| 

Though we use the common term Anglo-Saxon, it really 
includes several distinct sets of people. The implements and 
ornaments which these used, though resembling were not 
identical ; and their distinctive characteristics can be traced 
through the various parts of England. Mr. Roach Smith has 
drawn particular attention to this circumstance. § In the 
ancient kingdom of East Anglia, in Leicestershire, and further 

north, the form of a fibula pro- 
per is still preserved ; but among 
the early settlers of Kent, and 
towards AVessex, the circular form 
which we call 
"Brooch" is much 
more general. In 
some parts, as will 
be noticed, the 
brooch is of fre- 
quent occurrence, 
and splendidly 
decorated ; in 
other parts it oc- 
curs more rarely. 





Small ( 
bum Bo 



Largo example, from Suffolk. 

and instead of being convex is slightly con- 
cave. The following three forms are from Suffolk and Cam- 



* Wright's Archaeological Essaj s, 
I. \>. 25. 

f VVylie's Fairford Qraves, Plate 
\. Bg. ."). an. I Plate vi. fig. a. 

X WiMc's Catalogue of the Royal 
Iiisfa Academy; the Ulster Journal 



of Archeology ; the Gloucester 
Volume of the British Archeological 
Association ; Catalogue of the Special 
Exhibition of Works of Art :it South 
Kensington, &&, &c. 
§ Inrentorium Sepulchrale, p, xiii. 



FIBULA. 



60 



bridge; but the examples from Norfolk are of a somewhat 
similar kind. The first from Suffolk is large and cruciform, 
with a sort of rude human heads at its opposite extremities. 
It is six inches long, and nearly four and a half broad. The 
second is smaller, being about four inches long ; the upper 
part being decorated by rows of heart-shaped objects, and the 
lower by an involved line. The wings or cruciform part are 
only half the extent of the perpendicular length ; and it thus 
bears some resemblance to the bodv and small wings of a 




From Cambridgeshire. 

moth. The third is from Cambridgeshire ; and, instead of 
cross-bars, it presents us with a rectangular plate at the top, 
and greater width and decoration along the stem or bow. 
This is five and a quarter inches long, and the plate at top 
and projections below are about half that extent laterally. 
Among the fibulas discovered by Douglas in Kent, those 

with semicircular 
heads cannot fail to 
have arrested the at- 
tention of readers of 
the Nenia. Of this 
kind a variety occurs 
very commonly on the 
continent, and occa- 
sionally in our own 
count ly. From the 

From Osengell, in Thanct. From Seller., in Germany. CirCUlllterenCC 01 tllC 

semicircle five knobs like fingers project with an interval of 




70 T'AHT II. — THE OBJECTS. 

half a right angle between each pair. It is the prevailing form 
of fibula in the Frankish graves, and is known as the " hasp 
with offsets." It has been found by the brothers linden- 
schmidt near Mayence, at Osengell and other parts of Kent, 
at Selzen in Germany, at Lyons in France, by the Abbe 
Cochet in Normandy, and in several other places. 

3. Materials and Decoration. — The materials of which 
articles of this kind have been constructed are gold, silver, 
brass or bronze, iron, and sometimes mixed metal. Flat 
circular brooches, as we shall see, were often constructed of 
lead or pewter, but none of this form that I am aware of. A 
splendid gold fibula was found at Odiham in Hants, cruciform, 
and with massive balls at top and sides. It is now in the 
British Museum.* A magnificent one, also of gold, from 
Scotland, was exhibited at the Society of Antiquaries on the 
30th of May, 1850 ; but the gentleman who laid it before the 
Society declined, for special reasons, to state all the particulars 
concerning it. It has three gold balls like that just mentioned, 
one of which unscrews for the purpose of fastening the acus 
or pin. It is splendidly decorated, and other examples of the 
same shape were mentioned .on the occasion, j* The Rev. 
Thomas Hugo exhibited one of bronze, of the later Roman 
period, found in Eatcliff Highway, similar in form to that of 
Odiham, but still more resembling the beautiful one from 
Scotland. J Fibulas of this form are rarely found in silver. 
One of the later Roman period was discovered near Bath in 
1856, § but the form of it is not explained. In theLondes- 
borough collection there is one of silver gilt and nielloed, and 
with an iron pin. It is of the kind denominated " hasp with 
off-sets." In the same collection there were several of mixed 
metal. Of bronze or brass they were very common, and in 
numerous instances, whether of this material or of the precious 
metals, the pin was iron. Fibulae wholly iron occur, as we 



* Archaeological Journal, vol. II. 
p. 46. 
+ Proceedings of the Society of 



Antiquaries, II. ]>p. 84, SG. 
t Ibid. III. 16. 
§ Ibid. III. 268. 



FIBUL.E. 71 

have seen, among those in the lacustrine habitations of 
Switzerland. 

In decoration they were very varied, and sometimes re- 
markably splendid. They were plated, gilt, nielloed, enamelled, 
chased, ornamented with filigree and with precious stones, 
and in some instances small ornamental objects were riveted 
on or suspended. 

4. Cheshire Fibulas. The fibulae which have been found on 
the Cheshire coast amount to forty-eight in all. Of the 
commoner form there are forty, and of the rarer forms, like figs. 
8 and 10, Plate III., or 5, 6, 7, and 8, Plate IV., there are 
eight. With the exception of one of the latter class they 
are all of bronze ; the exceptional one is silver. Of the 
whole number Mr. Smith possesses thirty-two ; Mr. Mayer, 
Mr. Ainslie, and myself, five each ; and Mrs. Longueville one. 

Those engraved upon Plate III. are of course all of brass, 
and present considerable variety of form. Five of these are 
from Mr. Ainslie's collection, viz., figs. 1, 2, 3, 7, and 9 ; 
four from Mr. Smith's, 4, 5, 6, and 10 ; and fig. 8 from Mr. 
Mayer's. Figs. 2 and 7 are the only ones that show the 
cross-bar or hammer-head, and the former exhibits traces of 
minute and beautiful workmanship. Six of them have loops, 
apparently for a cord to be passed through to attach them 
to the person, so that it would be difficult for the wearer 
to lose one of them. On showing to a dealer a beautiful 
bow-shaped one in my own possession, with a suggestion 
that such a precaution would not be useless in modern 
times, he turned up the back of a brooch, and showed me 
a ring inserted for the same purpose. In two instances, viz. 
figs. 3 and 9, the loop for sustaining seems to answer the further 
purpose of serving as the hinge for the acus. This arrange- 
ment is very visible in the harp-shaped fibula, fig. 9. Traces 
of blue enamel are veiy apparent in three of those of Mr. 
Ainslie, figs. 1, 2, and 7, and in one of those of Mr. Smith, 
fig. 4; while the remains of a yellow setting are visible in fig. 3. 



PART II. — THE OBJE( TS. 



Fig. 5 exhibits a chequered pattern in scarlet and green, and 
fig. 6 a mixture of red and white. 

Plate IV. may be regarded as a continuation of Plate III., 
and the objects have been considered together. They are all 
bronze ; and with the exception of fig. 1, which belongs to 
Mrs. Longueville, and fig. 5, which is Mr. Mayer's, all 
are from Mr. Smith's collection. Fig. 1 is interesting, 
as having been the first object noticed in 1846, and which 
drew attention to the fact that antiquarian objects were pro- 
cured in the neighbourhood. Figs. 2 and 4 exhibit the cross- 
bar or hammer-head ; and the taller is peculiarly decorated 
along the back of the bow or stem. Fig. 8 is different from 
the others, and should not perhaps have been placed here. It 
is a sort of double buckle brooch, the pin of which has become 
agglutinated to the cross-bar, and is broken. 




Fibula from the Koman Villa a(, W'aYsby 
m ar Market Kasen, Lincoln. 



II. — BROOCHES.— Plate V. 
1. — Pin Brooch es. 
1. — Introduction. The original meaning of the term brooch, 
both in French and English, Is a Bpit ;* and therefore it ap- 



* Brochc or spctc (without mete), 
V ni ; Brochc or spctc (whan mete is 
vpon it), vcrutum. — Promptorium Par- 
oulorum. A brocb, a Bpitte, a long 
strike in writing Like a ipitte, made 



for a note. — Fleming?* DicL, 

B iodic, a broach or spit to, also a 
great stitch. — Cotgrave, 1611. A 
spit to to roast meat on ; a start on a 
young Btag'fl head, growing like the 



LV 








T'lBULE 



FIN BllOOCHES. 



73 



plied in the first instance to the pin. Subsequently it was 
applied more to the circle to which the pin was attached. 
To the Norman brooch the name was peculiarly applicable, 
as it consisted mainly of a decorated ring and a long pin. A 
beautiful one, fastening the inner garment of Queen Berengaria, 
is engraved in Fairholt's Costumes in England. * There are 
also two gold breast-pins in the collection of the Royal Irish 
Academy— one with a double torque-pattern ring, and the 
other with a plain unclosed rim— both of which illustrate 
this remark. *f- 

Hence the expression, " to broach or to tap " as if a cask ; 
that is, to pierce it, or " spit" it literally. Thus, two writers 
of the sixteenth century use the following language— 

"Villain, thou know'st the law of arms is such, 
That whoso draws a sword 'tis present death ; 
Or else this blow should broach thy dearest blood." t 

" Then to Dalkeith they made them boun, 
Keid-wod of this reproche ; 
There was baith wyne and venisoun, 
And barrells ran on broche."<g 

A lady threatening to let loose her tongue, uses the term 
figuratively, thus : — 



end of a spit.— Bailey's Diet. This 
meaning is illustrated in the follow- 
ing quotation from an ancient tract 
entitled, "Will Bucke, His Testa- 
ment," by Copland— "Eor to make 
Nombleis stued.— Take the numbleis, 
clene wasshed and dight, and cut 
them to the length of the brede of 
halfe a thombe, and then put them 
on a broche, and roste them til they 
be inoughe." Among the " Kychen 
Stuffe " of Katharine of Arragon, the 
following is enumerated, " A rounde 
broche, withe a paire of rackis, a fyre 
panne, a fyre forke, a paire of smalle 
aund eyerons, abrassc potrte, a brassc 



panne, a gredeyeron, a paire of ton- 
gis."— Camden Misc., hi. 41. King 
Edward II. was killed by " a broche 
of brennynge fyre putte throughe an 
home,'' or " a spit of copper bren- 
nynge." — Glossary to Ilearne's Rob. of 
Gloucester. In the Expenses of the 
Wardrobe of King Edward HI., there 
is mentioned as part of the kitchen 
furniture, " iiij broches ferri." — Ar- 
chozologia, XXXVIII. 81. 

* Page 99. 

f Wilde's Catal. of Gold Antiqs. p. 41. 

X Shakspeare, 1 Hen. VI., ill- 4. 

§ Alexander Scott — Justing of 
Adamson and Symc, 



74 



PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 



"Then maiest thou cliesen wheder thou wolt sippe, 
Of thilke toime that I shal abroche." * 

Except that a different term is employed, sucli as pin or 
skewer, the brooch in its original sense is an object of all time. 
It is said that the primitive mode of fastening garments was 
by the spur of a thorn ; f and, among the class of people called 
" tramps," some very inartificial modes of fastening might be 
observed. A Celtic peasant having lost a button which can 
ill be spared, fastens the two portions of his clothing by means 
of a large nail ; and, though this primitive brooch may be 
occasionally strained or bent, it endures at least as long as the 
fabric which it unites. Dr. Wilde, in his catalogue of the 
objects in the collection of the Eoyal Irish Academy, calls 
skewers of this kind " Breast-pins ; " and, as they generally 
united the mantle on the bosom, the name is much more 
accurate than that of hair-pins, frequently given to them. I 
have called them " Pin-brooches," where there is the pin and 
little or nothing else. 

2. — Kinds. It is extremely difficult, indeed impossible, to 
distinguish between brooches or breast-pins on the one hand, 
and hair-pins on the other. In the great majority of cases 
they were of the same size and form ; and it is not unlikely 
that the same instrument which fastened the robe of either 
sex at one time, served to decorate a lady's hair at another. 
Among the humbler classes of society, or in any class where 
there is a limitation of conveniences, we constantly find the 
same implement applied to various uses; and thus, instead of 
having defined duties to perform, it is a servant of all work. 
In Dr. Wilde's catalogue, objects like figs. 1, 4, 14, 18, on our 
Plate are called "Ping-pins," and a Dumber of very interesting 



* Chaucer, Wif of Hathe's Talc. 

t In Ncckam's treatise De Utcnsi- 
/ihiis, he says of a dealer, " Monilc 
habeat, Spintcr, (quasi wpiM tenax,) 
quo tanice fuscotincti vcl camisie 
colaria conjungat." — Mayer's Voc<if>., 



101. Omnibus sagum fibula, aut, si 
de&it, spina conscrtum. — Tacitus. In 
tbc Irish language the same word 
(dealg) is used to denote a thorn, and 
a skewer, pin, or bodkin. — Dr. WUoWi 
Catal., 832, n. 






rix cnoociiE-. 



75 



examples are given. In one instance, a pin three inches long 
has three ringles at different elevations, and of different sizes, 
passing through its top ; and in two others the ring is simply 
a piece of wire passed through the hole and bent by the fingers.* 
It is supposed, from the peculiar shape of the heads, that both 
of these latter may have been used as styli. The following 
examples from that collection -f- may serve in some degree to 
illustrate our own. They show apparently four 
stages of progress in the rings or loops ; but the 
pins are also of various lengths, sizes, and styles 
of ornamentation. For example, in 
the first there is a plain ring, thick at 
the middle and diminishing towards 
the part where it passes through the 
opening. In the second, the outer 
part of the ring is a distinct tiling, 
scarcely clearing the head of the pin, and it re- 
volves on an axis or swivel like a strong wire. S e C oid g "stel 





There are nume- 
this class. In the 
double, but the 
tipns are united 
ornamented, and 




rous specimens of 
third, the ring is 
two separate por- 
whcre it is un- 
passes through 



"Ring-pin," Third sta?,e. 

the pin. The fourth is ornamented with cruciform or trifoliate 
knobs, the lowest of XflfflUfc^ which terminates in 

a loop, as if for some JVjH^lv^^ suspended oma- 

3. — Objects in this Vl^lf^y Collection. There 
are nine pins of this ^*\Jm kind in the collec- 
tion, six of which nM are engraved on 
Plate V. They are Wm all of brass or 
bronze; and except WB ^. pl J FoilIfll 8tag8 . fig. 13, which is 
in Mr. Smith's collection, and 18 in my own, they are all 
the property of Mr. Mayer. Two of them (figs. 11 and 13) 



* Catalogue, p. 561. 



f lb., p. 561. 



76 PART Ii. — THE OBJECTS. 

are not strictly " Ring-pins/' but they have obviously served a 
similar purpose. The ornamentation on fig. 13 has been very 
beautiful, but most of it has flaked off. Fig. 11 has a thin 
solid head, and may possibly have served the purpose of a 
stylus, like those noticed by Dr. Wilde ; the eccentric position 
of the hole in the head gives it a peculiar lunette appearance. 
Figs. 1, 4, 14, and 18, are all of the same class, so far as the 
ring is concerned; and answer to the Irish type shown in Ring 
Pin, first stage. In all of them the ring is plain, but the head 
of the pin through which it passes is variously ornamented. 
In fig. 1, there are plain lines intersecting diagonally, like the 
simplest kind of wire-work. In fig. 4, the square is divided 
by its diagonals, and the two opposite triangles are shaded 
by lines passing in opposite directions. In 14, there is a 
central dot, with six others surrounding it; and in 18, the 
ornament consists of a simple cross. 

It is impossible to deny that these objects were also hair- 
pins, as they may have served that purpose, at least occa- 
sionally. In like manner the Hair-pin proper, which is treated 
of between Needles and Pins, may have fastened the dress on 
emergencies. The articles denoted by figs. 1, 4, 11, 14, and 18, 
have been pronounced Irish rather than English,* and they 
are said to be mediaeval, f 

2. — Circular Brooches. 

1. — Transition state. It is evident that the "pin-brooch," 
or " ring-pin," became transformed into the circular brooch, 
by the gradual shortening of the pin and enlargement of the 
ring. The ring, which was conspicuous, therefore became the 
important part; and the pin, which was concealed in the 
drapery, became subordinate. It is obvious that brooches of 
this kind were used in connection with clothing only j and 
that the use of such specimen- as ours in connection with the 
hair was impossible. The circular brooches of Ireland exhibit 

♦ A. W. F., C. K. S. | t More recent than Norman or Saxon. 



CIRCULAE BROOCHES. 



77 




From Fairford, Gloucestershire. 



an intermediate state such as is not shown here : the ring is 
large and greatly decorated, while the pin retains its size. The 
former therefore swung about on its axis, unless when it was 
secured to the dress, as it sometimes was. Sometimes in objects 
of this kind the inner circle diminished, as in that which is 
conventionally known as the Bob Boy brooch ; and the ring 
was broad and thin. The adjoining cut affords an illustration, 

from an "example from Fairford in 
Gloucestershire .* It is of the spe- 
cies called quoit-shaped, and is 
plated with white metal, orna- 
mented with circles indented by a 
punch. It will be observed that 
there is a slit in the rim to allow 
for the play of the acus. In this, 
and the adjoining counties of Berks 
and Oxford, Saxon fibulae or brooches showed a complete 
disc, and some, instead of being convex, were concave or saucer- 
shaped. The adjoining specimens are also from Gloucester- 
shire. In Kent, 
again, the cir- 
cular brooch 
was large, and 
frequently 
magnificent; 
and was often 
inlaid with precious stones. Concave Bl00Cbes ' from Gloucesterslii "- 

Mr. Roach. Smith thinks that the prevailing customs enable 
us to define the locality from the form, or vice versa, almost as 
in the case of local dialects.-)- An interesting example of the 
brooches of Kent is that discovered by Faussett, at Kingston 
Down, in 1771, in a coffin and grave unusually large. He says, 
" Near the neck, or rather more towards the right shoulder, 





* Archceologia, XXXVII. 146. 
f See the remarks of Mr. Smith, 
and of Mr. Syer Cuming, quoted by 



Mr. Crofton Croker. — Catal. of Lady 
Londesb. Coll., 1S53, pp. 21-32. 



78 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

was a most surprisingly beautiful and large fibula,* (subnectens.) 




The Great Broocli, from Kington Down. 



It is entirely of gold, and is most elegantly and richly set with 
garnets t and some pale blue stones, the names of which I am 
at present a stranger to. It is three and a half inches in dia- 




The l - Bide view 

meter, a quarter of an inch in thickness, and weighs 6 
ozs. 5 dwts. L8 grs. The cross on the under side is quite 
entire, and is also beautifully ornamented with garnets.! I 
flatter myself that it is altogether on • of the most curious, 

* The term fibula is here need in I t These prove to be coloured 
its general sen e, 



CIRCULAR BROOCH ES. 



79 



and, for its size, costly pieces of antiquity ever discovered 
in England." * 

There is a beautiful cruciform brooch- in my own collec- 
tion, which I procured from a farmer's wife near Hoylake. 
It is of silver engraved, and is apparently of the seventeenth 
century. I also possess a fragment of one, on the circle of 
which there appear to have been ten rude projections like 
mammae, for the insertion of stones or paste. It is of bronze, 
and an engraving of it may be seen in the Transactions of the 
Historic Society, f Vol. I., PL i., fig. 4. 

2. — Allusions to it. Chaucer, who lived in the fourteenth 

century, describes a carpenter's wife as wearing a very large 

one : — 

" A broche she bare upon hire low colere 

As brode as is the bosse of a bokelere." i 

The modern Celtic brooch, like that known as the " Eob Eoy 
brooch," is also large ; and from the Eoman times down to our 
own day, it has been usual to wear it not only at the throat, 
but also in fastening the dress on the shoulder. § Clerics 
usually fastened their copes across the throat, as in a monu- 
mental effigy of 1416, at Chartham in Kent. Sometimes the 
brooch was adorned with a religious device, and in other 
cases it bore the arms of the wearer. || 

Of the larger and more important specimens it may be suffi- 
cient to mention a few. There are several unique specimens 
known by particular names, and treasured for their elegance, 



* Inventorium Sepulchrale, pp. 77, 
78. It is engraved there, Plate I., 
and it is also engraved in Douglas's 
Nenia Biitannica, PI. x., fig. 6. 

t A similar one with twelve points, 
is engraved in the Journal of the 
Archaeological Association, vol. VIII., 
p. 369. 

X Canterbury Tales, 1. 32G4. " A 
silver brooch, worth 100 marks, was as 
broad as any ordinary pewter plate, the 
whole curiously engraven with various 



animals, &c. There was a lesser 
buckle, which was wore in the middle 
of the larger, and above two ounces 
weight." — Martin's Western Ishnids. 

§ Chaucer represents Deiphobe as 
accidentally finding a brooch on the 
collar of Diomede's coat : — 

As lie that on the coler found within, 

A brooch that he CresBeid yave at inorow. 

Tro. and Ores., B. v. 
|| Oxford Brasses, pp. xxxiii. :G, 
23. 



80 



PAltT II. — THE OBJECTS. 



their rarity, or their intrinsic value. Thus, there is the 
" Runic " or " Hunterston Brooch," engraved as the frontis- 
piece to Wilson's Archaeology and Prce-historic Annals of 
Scotland ; the "Brooch of Lorn/'* the "Glenlyon Brooch," the 
" Oval Brooch," &c. f There is the " Kilkenny Brooch " of 
silver, and the " Dalriadic Brooch," recently discovered, of 
gold. J , " The Tara Brooch," which is in the possession of 
Messrs. Waterhouse, of Dublin, is thus described : — "White 
bronze, annular, the expanded portion occupying nearly half 
the diameter ; the depressed parts overlaid with placques of 
gold, to which is soldered gold interlaced filigree of great 
delicacy and elegance. Bosses and lines of brown amber, 
and small portions of glass and lapis lazuli, are set in the pro- 
jecting parts. The wedge--shaped head of the pin is similarly 
ornamented with filigree, &c. Irish work of the twelfth century. 
Diameter, 4 in. ; length of pin, 9 in." Elegant brooches of 
Aberdeen granite were shown at the International Exhibition 
of 1862, by the Messrs. Retfcie. 

The Livery Company of London were called " Hurriers " 
and " Miliners ;" the latter name being used because their 
wares came from Milan ; and these included brooches. Anion jj 
those found in the graves at Barrow Furlong, in Northamp- 
tonshire, about twenty-one in number, not one had the pin in 
it or with it. Three had the catches apparently filed off ; and 
one the hinge also. The hinge consisted of a thin slip of 
metal, and the junction of the pin was forked; so that, when 
the hinge was inserted in the fork, a wire passed through the 
three holes.§ The material varied between pure copper and 
pale brass. 



♦ Whence the blOOCb of hunting ffpld 
That clasps the chieftain's mantle fold, 
Wrought and chased with rare d.\ i,v, 
Kiuddcd fair with Reins ofprlOC ; 
On the. varied tartans he.unine;, 

As through night*! pale rainbow glMunUtg— 

Fttatl r now, DOH s. en afar, 
Pithl shines the nuithi rn ftar. 

Thii is the first of six stanzas descrip- 



tive of the Brooch of Lorn, in Scott's 
11 J. or*l of the Isles," c. ii. v. 11. 
t Sec Wilson. 

X Ulster Journal of Archaeology, 

iv. i. 
^ Archseoloria, XXX I II. 331. 



CIRCULAK BROOCHES- 81 

Among the various articles carried by the pedlar of the 
fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, brooches were reckoned : — ■ 

Poticary. — What the devyll hast thou there at thy backe ? 
Pedler. — What, dost thou not knowe that every pedler, 

In all kinde of trifles must be a medler ? 

Gloves, pynnes, combes, glasses unspottyd, 

Pomanders, hookes, and lases knottyd ; 

Broches, rynges, and al maner of bedes, 

Lace rounde or flat, for women's hedes : 

Nedles, threde, thymbell, shers, and all such knackes, 

Where lovers be, no such thinges lackes ; 

Sypers,* swathbondes,f rybandes, sieve laces, 

Gyrdyls, knyves, purses, and pynnaces. % 

Brooches of the more important kind are also alluded to 
under the name of stomachers : — 

I will have my pomander of most sweet smell, 
Also my chaines of gold to hange about my necke, 
And my broadered haire while I at home dwell ; 
Stomachers of golde becometh me well. § 

3. — Objects in this Collection. The number of objects of this 
class is thirty-five in all ; of which six are of silver, fourteen of 
brass or bronze, and fifteen of lead. Mr. Smith's collection 
contains the largest number, including sixteen in all; and 
there are twelve in my own. Fig. 9 presents material of four 
different kinds. On a basis of copper or bronze is a thin 
plate of gold, covered with silver filigree, of fine work, and 
ornamented with enamel. 

Figs. 2 and 3 are silver, each having only one semicircle 
ornamented, the tongue or pin being the diameter. In one, 
the ornamentation is funicular ; in the other, it consists of 
triangular decoration. Fig. 6 is of silver, with six diamond- 
shaped pieces laid on the circumference of the circle. This 

of a Palmer, a Pardoner, a Potycary, 
and a Pedler.) 

§ Booke of Robin Conscience, cir. 
1G00. 



* Thin cloth of Cyprus for veils. 
t Rollers for children. 
% Hey wood's Four PP. cir. 1533. 
(A Newe and a very mery interlude. 



G 



82 PAKT IT. — THE OBJECTS. 

was a very common mode of ornamentation ; four of these 
pieces are simply checked, but the two at the quadrants have 
each an impressed fleur de lis. 

Fig. 5 is a pretty one of lead, with a weak pin. An orna- 
mented band runs along its middle ; and it has five equi- 
distant shields, each of which bears a trefoil. Fig. 7 is a 
coarse leaden one, with the usual diamond ornament ; but 
most of its decoration is obliterated. Fig. 8, which is of 
lead, wants the pin ; it has six equidistant knobs, rudely 
indented. 

Fig 10 is a very elegant one of bronze, bevelled both on the 
inner and outer side, and of the quatrefoil form. It has the 
place for the acus or pin thinner than the rest, as in nume- 
rous other examples. 

Fig. 12 is of lead, with four discs, united by an orna- 
mented lozenge in the centre. It thus approximates to the 
complete disc, having quite dropped the character of a mere 
ring. 

Figs. 15, 16, and 17, are more like the types at the top of 
the plate, viz., 2 and 3 ; being plain circular brooches, with 
very little ornament. Fig. 15 is silver, 10 brass, and 17 
bronze. Fii* 19 is an elegant tongue or acus of another 
brooch ; it is of silver, guarded with shoulders, and ornamented 
with wavy lines. 

On Plate V., figs. 2, 9, 12, and 17, are from Mr. Smith's 
collection; 5, 7, 8, and 16, from Mr. Ainslie's; 10, 15, 19, 
from Mr. Mayer's; 6 from Mrs. Longueville's ; and 3 from a 
small private collection. 

4. — Associations of Brooch and Ring. The instances in 
which brooches and rings are mentioned together are 
very numerous, showing at once the high value of both 
articles at the time when the expressions were employed, 
and also their similarity of use. The following are a few 
examples : — 



CIRCULAR BROOCHES. 



83 



Who gaf broehe and beighe ? 
Who but Douk Morgan ? * 
A lond thai sett that sleigh, 
"With all his wining yare, 
With broehe and riche beighe.* 
But netheles this markis hath do make 
Of gemmes set in gold and in asure, 
Broches and ringes for Griseldes sake.f 
In the Chester Mystery Plays, the shepherds do not know 
what to present to the Babe of Bethlehem ; and Secundns 
Pastor says : — 

Goe we nere anon with such as we have broughle, 

Binge, broehe, ner precious stonne, 
Let us se yf we have oughte to proffer. 
And the " first boye " adds : — 

Nowe, Lorde, for to geve thee have I no thinge, 
Nether goulde, silver, bruche, ner ringe.J 
In the old ballad entitled Redisdale and Wise William, he 
attempts to entice the lady with rich presents : — 
He — Come down, come down, my lady fair, 
A sight of you I'll see ; 
And bonny jewels, broaches, rings, 
I will give unto thee. 
She — If you have bonny brouches, rings, 
Oh mine are bonny tee ; § 
Go from my yettes now, Beedisdala, 
For me you shall not see. || 
Sir Walter Scott, in his ballad of Albert Grccme,^ says :— 
Her sire gave brooch and jewel fine, 

Where the sun shines fair on Carlisle wall, 
Her brother gave but a flask of wine, 
For ire that Love was lord of all. 
This, of course, was only an imitation of ancient passages in 



* Scott's edition of Sir Tristrem, 
pp. 23, 28. The term " Bcigh," or 
"Bee," still exists in provincial Eng- 
lish to denote a ring ; but I have only 
heard it applied to the large iron ring 
at the lower end of a rake or hay-fork, 
to prevent the handle from splitting. 



t Chaucer, the Clerke's Tale. 
J Shaksp. Soc. edition, pp. 140,142. 
§ The Aberdeen pronunciation of 
the word "too." 

|| Motherwell's Minstrelsy, p. 301. 
1 Lay of the Last Minstrel, canto vi. 



84 PART If. — THE OBJECTS. 

ballad poetry. Thus, in the ballad of Young Bearwell, 
it is said of a lady's lovers that " they wooed her with broach 
and ring ;" * and in that of the Cruel Sister, the two articles 

are separated for the sake of the rhyme : — 

He courted the eldest with glove and riug, 
But he lo'ed the youngest aboon a' thing ; 
He courted the eldest wi broach and knife, 
But he lo'ed the youngest aboon his life. f 
Iii the Ancren Riivlc, or Regulcc Inchtsarum, the nuns are 
forbidden to have brooch, or ring, or studded girdle : — 
Ring ne broche nabbe ye ; ne gurdel i-inembred. X 



III.— BUCKLE BROOCHES.— Plate V. 

1. General Remarks. — This designation has been adopted 
for want of a more suitable one. Many of the brooches are 
circular in form, and made of iron ; they have large pins or 
tongues, as if intended for leather; and they arc almost 
undistinguishable from buckles proper. Yet they were 
obviously intended to be used in connection with cloth, as 
both the form, and sometimes the material, were unsuited for 
leather. The distinction, however, between brooches and 
buckles is not marked by any definite line ; the two classes 
of objects gradually intermingle. So also do two other 
objects — the brooch and the fermail. This latter word, which 
is adopted from the French, indicates a smaller and more 
elegant brooch, with a finer pin. The term " fermail " waa 
also applied to denote the clasps of a book, or hooks in 
general; so that, like brooch, it indicated a genua rather than 
a species, and at its extremes waa related to objects of various 
kinds. The Romans included both brooches and buckles 
under the term " fibulas," and of course this intermediate clasa 
was also comprehended. Those which resembled the modern 
buckle, or which presented a ring with a pin across it. Mere 

* Motherwell, p. 847. See also the I t Border Minstrelsy, III. 181. 
o. B. «>f Ladj Maisiy, i>. 71. J Camd. Soc. edition, p. -iiM). 



LUCKLE BKOOCHES. 



85 





generally decorated in a much, more costly way than the 

fibulae proper.* 

In some heraldic illustrations, as in the arms of Case of 

Lancashire, one sees buckles which are like brooches, or 

brooches which are like buckles — in short, a compromise 
between the two. 
A similar object 
is found on the 
arms of the Gold- 
smiths' Company 
of London, granted 
1571. There are 
also buckle brooch- 
es given by Wor- 
saee; one of trefoil 

Anns of Case, Lancashire. form, and another The same, enlarged. 

circular, composed of circular bands, with one of larger size 
at intervals, like a little rosary of soft materials compressed 
into a circle, f The following forms are from the Saxon graves, 
and are figured in the Inventorium SepulcJirale. The largest 
is like one of those just given, and is of brass; while a smaller 

one of silver, round on the 
upper side, where it is orna- 
mented, is flat on the lower 
side. Both were 
found at Gilton- 
town, in Kent. 
In a woman's 
grave at Siberts- 
wold, the frag- 
ments of another were found 
near the neck. It has been 

Brass, from Gilton-town. brokdl (like Fig. 10 Oil Plate 

VI.) along the line of the acus. 





Silver, from Giltoii- 
town. 



* Smith's Diet, of Greek and Rom. 

Antiqs 



t See Plate xiv. fi£. 15, which in 
some respects resembles it. 



SG ;r II. — THE 013JI, 



From Sibertswold. 

2. Use of the Article. — Brooches of all the kinds specified, 
especially the more elegant and costly ones, were heirlooms, 
and descended from generation to generation in the families 
of those who owned them. It was in this way that some of 
the rarer specimens, mentioned in the previous article, came 
to be preserved. The brooch was worn in the cap for various 
reasons, one of which was as a decoration. Two examples of 
this are found in the w Inventory of the Goods of the Duke of 
Richmond,"* 1527. 

Item, a bonnet of black velwet, with a brooche and a naked woman, 
with xviij pair of agglettes andxviij buttons, and a small cheyne about 
the edge of the same. 

Item, a bonett furnished with buttons, and a litill brooche. 

They were sometimes also worn in the cap as tokens of 
pilgrimage ; and, in such cases, they bore the figure of the 
saint at whose shrine they were distributed. Mr. Roach 
Smith has thrown considerable light upon this subject, 
previously very obscure ; and Mr. Fairholt lias also referred 
to it in his note on the quotation given from Barclay : — 

Hygh on his bonet stacke a fayre broche of tynne, 
His pursys lynynge was symple, poore, and thynne.f 

Sir Walter Scott has introduced two females as wearing 
the brooch. One is the wife of Watt Tinlinn, the shoemaker, 
from the tower on the Liddell 

His wife, stout, ruddy, and dark browM, 
Of silver broach and bracelet proud, 
Laugh M to her friends among the crowd. X 

He adds in a note: "As the Borderers were indifferent about, 
the furniture of their habitations, so much exposed to be 

* Camden Soc. Miscellany, III. 3,12. I dvshnian. 

t Barclay's Cyteien and Uplon- I % Lay of the Lost Minstrel, It. 5, 



BUCKLE BKUOCHES. 87 

burnt and plundered, they were proportionally anxious to 
display splendour in decorating and ornamenting their 
females." The other example is Ellen Douglas : — 
A chieftain's daughter seemed the maid, 
Her satin snood, her silken plaid, 
Her golden brooch, such birth betrayed.* 
Among the "great rarities and riches" in the closet of 
Queen Mary, are mentioned, " crosses and Ihesus,f brouches, 
tablets and pendants." 

To the female inhabitants of religious houses, such orna- 
ments, provocative of vanity, were strictly forbidden. 
Hore hesmel beo heie istihd ; al withute broche.J 
[Let their collar be high-pointed ; let none wear a brooch.] 

It would appear, also, that a brooch and a girdle, like a 
brooch and a ring, were true-love tokens. 

Diomede ! thou hat both broche and belte, 
Quiche Troilus gave me in tokining 
Of his true hive. § 

In former times, two brooches were sometimes worn on the 
breast, as two of the large oval or shell-shaped species were 
found in that position on a skeleton in a sepulchral mound in 
Orkney. || 

3. — Description of' the Collection. The number of buckle- 
brooches is fifty-six, and of fermails twenty-eight ; or eighty- 
four in all. Of these, five are silver, forty-nine brass or bronze, 
and thirty lead. Mr. Mayer's collection is by far the richest in 
objects of this kind ; for it includes all the silver ones, and fifty 
of the others. Of the objects engraved on Plate VI., fig. 6 is from 
Mr. Ainslie's collection, 11 from Mr. Smith's, 10 from my 
own, 12 and 14 from Mr. Eobinson's, and all the rest from 
Mr. Mayer's. 

Figs. 1, 9, and 14 are of silver ; and they display very 
different degrees of decoration. Fig. 1 is in shape a rude 



* Lady of the Lake, i. 19. 
t Hearne's Glossary. 
X Ancrcn Riwlc, 424. 



§ Ilenryson, Testament of Crcsseide. 
|| Wilson's Prehistoric Annals, 
p. 553. 



88 p.urr n. — the objects. 

octagon, and it is embossed with little hemispheres, which 
seem irregularly distributed, but which are actually sym- 
metrical in their arrangement; the acus is perfect, and 
exhibits chequered marks at the top. Fig. 9 is a beautiful 
little fermail, in which a plain ring is cased with an outer 
coating of delicate work. It is difficult to say whether it has 
at any time covered the whole circle; and the ambiguity 
arising from the appearance is increased by the fact, that some- 
times such objects were decorated to half the extent of the 
circle only (see Plate V., figs. 2 and 3). Fig. 14 is a very 
elegant brooch, approaching to the disc form. A broad band 
of metal has an outer and inner border plain, between which 
is a row of circles with intermingled dots. The inner cir- 
cumference of the band of metal is filled up by the head and 
neck of a lady ; the hair being enclosed in net-work as at 
present, and the collar of her garment being decorated by an 
embroidery of stars. 

Figs. 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11, are of brass or bronze. Fig. 4 is 
plain throughout one semicircle, and decorated in the other ; 
and the acus or tongue was fastened at one junction of these 
two portions, and fell at the other. Fig. 3 is peculiar, inas- 
much as it has spaces for six imitations of gems, or for filling 
with enamel. Fig. 6 presents no special feature ; it is a 
decorated circle, with a plain pin. Fig. 7 appears to have 
opened and shut like the penannular brooches, now well known, 
the end of the ring being inserted into the knob which is 
attached to the other end. Fig. 10 is broken right across in 
the line of the pin ; but there can be no doubt as to its original 
purpose. Fig. 11 is very peculiar in form It may be said to 
be elliptical, with a nozzle at one end and a precious stone 
at the other. The pin, which is very 6ne, stands across it. The 
rim is decorated throughoui with small faint circles. Pigs; 2, 
5, and 8, arc of pewter. Fig. li is literally " a wheel within a 
\ heel ;" having a central disc with an outer margin, and 
ornamental <>}"n work between. The pin was placed at the 



BUCKLE BROOCHES. 89 

back, and may possibly have been only the length of the . 
diameter of the inner circle, after the manner of fig. 8. Occa- 
sionally, too, the pin was of a different material, as iron wire* 
It was at one time supposed that this had formed the ornamental 
top of a box. It seems to have been copied from gold patterns. 45 " 
Fig. 5 is a circle, with a broad inscribed square, the four 
segments being filled up with little balls. There are also balls 
at the corners of the square. Each pair of opposite sides is 
ornamented with a separate pattern, which in one of the 
four is nearly obliterated ; and the pin or acus is broad, 
apparently ill adapted to pierce even cloth. It may be 
Koman, but is probably later.f Fig. 8 has been an interesting- 
object when complete. Its outer margin is divided into six 
parts, each containing a boss and a human head ; but one of 
the former and four of the latter have been lost. It is nearly 
two inches across ; the diameter of the inner open circle being 
about half an inch. The pin is attached to the margin of this, 
and a fold of the cloth appears to have been passed up through 
the hole, and through this the pin was passed. It is not 
unlikely that it was worn by some one engaged in pilgrimage. 

Figs. 12 and 13 are of lead. The former appears to have 
been constructed in imitation of silver brooches ; having eight 
projecting knobs round the outer margin, and incised chequered 
lines between that and the inner margin. From the axis 
which remains, the pin appears to have been a delicate one, 
but it is wanting. Fig. 13 has five knobs still occupied by 
the original glass settings. 

It is evident that the pictorial representation, and the 
description of 26 circular brooches (Plates V. and VI.) out of 
119, can give only an idea of their general character. These 
have been selected, however, as types, in the hope of showing 
something of every kind of size, material, and style. 

* C. R. S. It A. W. F. 



9 I PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

IV. — BU CKLES. 

1. — Introduction. 

The use of buckles is very ancient, as they were known 
under the general name of fibulas in ancient Rome. Examples 
have been found in Tompeii ; and they are mentioned in the 
Apocryphal books of Scripture* as tokens of honour. Even in 
our own country, they can be traced from an early period of our 
history, as a simple and natural fastening, which must have 
suggested itself to very primitive people. In Anglo-Saxon and 
more recent times, they answered, to a large extent, the purpose 
which is now served by buttons ; but, in our own day, there 
is a strong tendency to get rid of them altogether as an essen- 
tial of dress. The silver buckles which adorned the shoes 
of our grandsires have disappeared ; the more common use of 
trousers has also removed them from the knees. The em- 
ployment of elastic bands has superseded them as adaptations 
in the width of the waistcoat ; they are rarely used on the 
cravat or stock ; and perhaps the only buckle that could be 
found in the dress of a modern gentleman, is that which he 
wears unconsciously in his hat-band, or possibly there may 
be one on each of his braces. 

Buckles are formed of almost all, if not quite of all, the 
metals known to our ancestors. They are of copper, latten, 
brass, bronze, iron, silver, and even of lead and pewter. More 
rarely they are of gold. Copper shoe-buckles arc mentioned 
by Kemp in his Nine Daics Wonder ; and about 1500, buckles 
of latten were common, fifty-nine of which cost fonrpence 



* King Alexander honoured Jona- 
than yet more, and sent him a buckle 
of gold, as the use is, to he given to 
Bach as are of the king's hlood. — 1 
Maccab. x. 89. He gave him leu ve- 
to drink in gold, and to he clothed in series. 

purple, and t<> wear a golden buckle. 



— xi. 58. In Lnyard's Monuments 
of Nineveh, buckles arc represented; 
as on the Eunuch's belt, PL xvii. ; on 
the belts round the winged griffins, 
PI. xliii.; and on PL xi., Second 



BUCKLES. 



91 



each. Buckles of brass have been found with. Anglo-Saxon 
remains in Northamptonshire, in the graves of Kent, and in 
many other places ; and, at Barrow Furlong they accompanied 
the remains of a Saxon horse. * Buckles of gold and silver 
were of course rare, and were used only by the rich. There 
are none of the former material in this collection. Silver 
buckles are mentioned in the expenses of the wardrobe of 
Edward III. ; f also buckles of silver gilt. 

ccciiij. xij boucles arg ! . 
lxij boucles arg 1 deaur 1 . 

Those of iron were usually large 
and strong, and evidently adapted 
for a coarse kind of work. They 
are comparatively rare among 
objects of great antiquity; and, 
when found, are usually corroded 
more or less. The accompanying 
examples from Kent show the 
appearance which they frequently 

exhibit. Iron * From a War rior's Grave. 

Buckles of brass or bronze are much more 
numerous ; and there is reason to believe 
that they were so at the time when they 
were worn, and without reference to corro- 
sion. The following examples from the 
square iron Buckie. Saxon graves of Gilton-town, in Kent, show 
how well they still preserve their 
regularity of outline. The acus 
in the larger is fiddle-shaped, and 
in the smaller it is ornamented 
by a knob. In a few instances we find them 
of mixed metals, as of iron and brass jointly. 
For example, an elegant little square specimen 






Brass, Gilton-to\vn. 




Archocol., XXXIII. 330. 



| t ArdueoL, XXXI. 34 35. 



00 



PA11T II. — THE OBJECTS. 



from Kingston 
frame of iron 
of brass ; and 
buckle, with a 

tachment, has the frame of iron 

and attachment of brass. 



Buckle iron, acus and shank 
brass. 




Down has the 
and the acus 
a very small 
shank or at- 
and the acus 



Brass on iron. 



2. — Buckles with Shanks or Attachments. 

The characteristic of a modern buckle is, that the strap, 
passing round the hinder bar, is stitched upon itself. Thus, 
leather works upon metal ; and, as the greatest strain occurs 
at the doubling of the leather, it generally gives way at that 
place. Formerly, however, the buckle was often compound in 
its structure. A plate of metal, supposed to be much stronger 
than leather, passed round the hinder bar of the buckle, and 
between its two folds the end of the strap was inserted. The 
whole was made fast by rivets passing through the two folds 
of metal and one of leather. These were usually from two 
to five in number, but not unfrequently a single one sufficed. 
This metallic strap, in connection with the leather, is some- 
times called a "shank," and by Douglas, in the Kcnia 
Britannica, a "tail," but is here denoted by the word 
"attachment." In the Anglo-Saxon buckles discovered in 
ancient graves, buckles with attachments are very numerous ; 
as maybe seen in the woodcuts and plates of the Inventorium 
Sepulchrale.* Numerous beautiful examples may also be 
found among monumental brasses. The Trumpingfcon brass, 
1289, exhibits a beautiful example of the attachment in the 
guige which supports the shield ; and the sword-belt of Fitz- 
ralph, in Pebmarsh Church, Essex, has a large metallic 
attachment at the buckle, distinct from but moving on it. 

The following are some examples of this class, presenting 
great variety in size, form, material, and ornamentation : — 



* See ;i!m> Transactions of the Sod I viii. 
Ant. Zurich, for 1846-47, PL vii. and ! 



BUCKLES. 



93 





(1.) Among the smaller ones is 
an iron buckle with a brass shank 
from Beakesboume, in the attach- 
ment of which only a single rivet 
has been employed. Another, all 

mbb, Kingston Down. j^g^ f rom Kingston DoWH, haS Iron, Beakesboume. 

been attached by two rivets ; and a third, 
a little longer, from the same place, has 
been attached by three, of which two still 

remain. One nar- /ft ^ . ^ 

rower than any of ^gli, o) 

these, and suitable 




Brass, Kingston E own. 



Narrow Buckle and Shank. 



only for a very small strap, has been fastened by three rivets. 





Iron, Kingston Down. 



Iron, Beakesboume. 



(2.) Two iron ones, from Kingston Down and Beakesboume 
respectively, exhibit the taper- 
ing and the waved shank. The 
former is fastened by two rivets, 
and the latter by three. A third 
one, from Barfriston Down, is 
very peculiar, for it appears to 
have something like the acus of 
a much larger buckle adhering 
to it through its whole length. 
A fourth iron buckle from iron, BarMston. 
Beakesboume, presents no feature of interest ex- 
cept the disproportionate length of its attachment. 
(3.) In some instances, the attachment or shank 
not only tapered, but had two projections oppo- 
iron, Beakesboume. site to the rivets. With one at each side, near the 
top, like eyes, and one at the bottom like a nose, such a 




m 





94 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



buckle bore a certain amount of resemblance to a horse's- 
head. It lias, therefore, been denominated the horse-head 
pattern. In examples of this kind the rivets have their 
heads enlarged and ornamented, but not invariably so; 
and some of the more interesting specimens are extremely 
curious and beautiful. There are others, not differing from 
the ordinary sizes, which may be regarded as approximations 
to the horse-head type* The accompanying specimens, both 
of brass, and both from Kent, may serve as illustrations :— 






Tapering Shank. 

I __y\^vfej Projections at rivet-boles. 

(4.) Sometimes Wg^J the ornamentation is 
peculiar, as by fttH!/ piercing, stamping, 

engraving, super- ^JH position, &c. A beauti- 

ful example from ^gp7 Sibertswold is pierced 

with two crosses Horse-bead Buckie. and four shields, one pair 
of the latter being between the crosses and addorsed, and the 
other pair being at the bottom and inverted. It is also covered 




Solid piece, pit reid. 




d shank. 



En # *W w f thiS ki " (1 ? T m P6r ' ° r n, ' n **«*<J damascened. 
England, but ate common In Frank- Ml , i> (1;l , h Bmith in £ s 

lab graves. They are generally cop- •' 



BUCKLES. 



V»o 



irregularly with the well-known circumference and centre, or 
circle and dot, irregularly placed within a border. It was 
evidently intended to be laid down upon a strap, because both 
buckle and attachment are in one continuous piece. A less 
imposing brass buckle, with two rivet-holes, is pierced by two 
rectangular openings along the length of the shank, above the 
rivets. It has also on the buckle the frequently occurring 
ornament of three cross lines. 

Another, in which buckle and attachment 
appear to be of one piece, is from Barfriston 
Down. The attachment is divided into five 
compartments by sets of two parallel cross 
lines, and in each one there are four circles 
and centres. But in the compartment at the 
extremity of the attachment or shank, there are 
six such circles, three and three, some of which 
are separated by two little isosceles triangles 
pierced out. The whole is within a border, 
and the buckle is ornamented with lines and 
dots. One from the Isle of Wight, which is in 
other respects plain, appears to have two little 
plates superimposed. Small pieces of metal of this size and 
form are of frequent occurrence ; and from the fact that they 
contain rivet-holes, as well 
as from the connection in 
which they were found, it has 
been supposed that they 
were riveted to the leather 
of the belt as uniform orna- 
ments. From Chcssell, Isle of Wight 

(5.) Occasionally the metallic shank was fastened to metal, 
as on a breast-plate and back-piece ; in which case a strap 
with holes at both ends, but without any metal, served to 
connect them. The accompanying buckle, which is beauti- 
fully ornamented, appears to have been employed in this 




Solid and Ornamented. 




UG 



PART 11. — THE OBJECTS. 




way. Another, which cannot have been 
employed in that way, is placed beside 

it for a comparison of _ 

^ 4. T4. • §>® ® 

the ornaments. It is : 



brass, and is distin- 5^ 
guished by six double F 
circles. It Was found 




Shank, supposed to have been 
attached to metal. 



Shank with double circles. 




(6.) In numerous instances, the strap of metal within 
which the leather was inserted, lias broken in the middle, or 
where the greatest strain was on the cross-bar ; and thus we 
often find the attachment or shank apart from the buckle, or 
perhaps one side of it only. The annexed specimen shows 
what is here meant; and objects of this 
kind are so numerous that they have been 
separately classified. This example may be 
compared with figs. 11 and 16, Plate VII. 

Of the " buckles with attachments " there Attachment om y . 
are 101 perfect specimens in this collection ; viz., forty-six 
belonging to Mr. Mayer, thirty-two to myself, and twenty- 
three to Mr. Smith. Of these again, ninety-four (or more 
than nine-tenths) are brass, and seven lead. Of the mere 
shanks or attachments there are thirty-seven ; viz., ten in 
Mr. Mayer's collection, nine in Mr. Smith's, and eighteen in 
my own. Of these again, thirty-six are brass, and only one 
lead. 

Plate VII. exhibits a select and representative set of 
sixteen objects, out of these 138. The following are a few 
details respecting them : — 

The first four examples shew the method of fastening by 
attachments. They, are all of brass. Fig. 1 still contains the 
five rivets by which it was originally fastened; it is coarse 
and strong. Fig. 2 exhibits more elegance, and, as in the 
former case, the tongue falls on a runner, while the shank or 
attachm snl is decorated with faint dotted lines. Fig. 3 







:-. 



; 



BUCKLES. 97 

appears to have had but one rivet. Fig. 4 is peculiar in its 
construction. The attachment or shank, instead of being 
double, had a square border of metal which fell upon the 
leather, the rivets passing through the four corners. A fifth 
rivet passed through the centre. A complete rim also exists 
in the collection, which has formed part of another such buckle. 

Figs. 11, 12, and 16, are portions of shanks or attachments, 
one side of the metal only remaining. They also are all of 
brass. Fig. 11 is rudely ornamented with a St. Andrew's 
cross stamped from within, and there are places for four 
rivets. Fig. 12 slightly resembles the " horse-head" pattern, 
and is curiously ornamented. It is undoubtedly old. Fig. 1(3 
is ornamented with a dotted border and indented lines, forming 
spaces like equi-angular triangles. Fig. 10 probably represents 
a similar portion of an attachment, the projections for the 
tongue having been broken off. It is ornamented at its end 
with a sort of herring-bone pattern. 

In some instances the buckle and shank were one solid piece, 
and the latter appears to have been laid down upon the strap 
and riveted to it, or else inserted between two folds of leather. 
Figs. 5 and 6, from their ornamented character, must have 
been laid upon the strap; but fig. 8, which is thinner and 
plainer, was probably inserted between folds of leather. An 
example precisely similar to figs. 5 and 6 was found at Gilton- 
town, in Kent* 

A curious kind of shank, of the same piece with th' 
buckle, is exhibited in figs. 7 and 9, which arc forked at 
the end; and the tag-, or pendants of straps, were occasionally 
forked in like manner. It may be observed as a general rule, 
that the pendant, the buckle, and (lie ornamental Btuds on 
the leather, harmonized in character, and the three are figured 
by the Abbe Cochet, exhibiting uniformity in design : but the 
rule was not without exceptions. T\\r, object represented, 
fig. 7, is Piomano-British. 

Im • Sep., p. 29; and Plate x. IL 



1)3 



PART JI. — THE OBJECTS. 



Pigs. 13, 14, and 15, are buckles of lead, the shank in 
each case being of a piece with the buckle, and forming a 
sort of case into which the leather was inserted. It could 
not have withstood a heavy strain. 

All the sixteen objects engraved on Plate VII. are brass, or 
some other alloy of copper, except 13, 14, and 15, which are 
lead. Figs. 1, 4, 5, 6, 9, and 12, represent objects in Mr. 
Mayer's collection; figs. 3, 7, 8, 11, 13, 14, 15, and 16, others 
in my own; 10 is Mr. Smith's; and 2 Mrs. Longueville's. 

3. — Buckles Generally. — Plate VIII, 
In the illustrations to which attention has already been 
drawn, thirty-five examples have been shewn on the plate or in 
the woodcuts ; but the following remarks may also be made : — 
In the time of Edward III., we find a circular buckle 
fastening the belt, and a corresponding one on the gypciere, 
or pouch ; and square and rectangular ones are also common. 
On a shoulder-belt, near the end of a strap, a.d. 1361,* we 
see the top of a buckle, of which fig. 14, Plate VIII., is an 
exact resemblance. A very curious buckle is figured by 
\Vorsaa3,f which appears to be metal fastening metal (not 
leather). A small metallic swivel on one part covers the 
tongue, and hooks underneath the semicircular part of the 
buckle, which belongs to the other part. In the Cotman 
brasses,} a curious one is represented as fastening a shoe, 
resembling a hook through a ring. The heraldic buckle, as 
preserved on the armorial bearings of various English families, § 
is very varied in shape ; but the varieties are so great that 
any thing more than an indication of them would be out of 
pi. ice In some examples of the horse-head buckle, the 
buckle proper was attached to the horse-head portion; in 
others they are separate, the latter serving merely as a leather 
ornament Several beautiful examples are engraved in the 



* Waller's Brasses, John Corpe. 

t Aibildninger, p. f>7. 

\ Robert A-ttelathe, Lynn, Norfolk, 



1370. 

§ Gwillim, p. 348 ; Gloss of Her, 
sub '■ 









ft size 



FOR 0" HUMES HQVUKi- *' 






B 



BUCKLES. 






Ini'cntorium Sepulchrale* and other works.f In the example 
given in La Normandie Souterrainc, Plate xv., fig. 5, the 
buckle, the acus, and the horse-head, appear to consist of 
three separate pieces. The following three specimens are all 
varieties of the oval or elliptical 
buckle ; they are ail from the graves 
of Gilton-town, in Kent. In the first, 
which is large, the acus extends far 
over the frame of the buckle ; in the 
second, the acus is fiddle-shaped at the 
junction. These are both of bn -. 
ovai Bucue, xo. i. The third wants the acus, and is of 

white metal. 






Oval Buckle, No. •'■• 

On the brass of Eichard Kniveton 
of Muggington Church, Derbyshire, 
^pk is a very peculiar one; it is totally 
unlike any in our Cheshire collec- 
h^iion. The cuius, or 
JStf tongue, seems to be 
of one piece with the 
buckle; and there is 
an opening in the 
latter, at the point 
of the aeus, appa- 
rently for the inser- 
tion of a soft belt. The Pelham buckle is well known in the 

* Plates viii., ixT^r^T^T t La Normandie Soutcr,,in, . 
gg I Platea \i- and xv, 

L.ofC. 




The Pelham Buckle. 



100 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

south of England, especially in the cast part of Sussex. The 
form of it is shown here. 

Of separate buckles, such as are represented on Plate VI EL, 
there are 151 whole, and 97 fragments; 248 in all. Analysed 
according to their material, two are silver (both fragments 
only), 229 are brass (139 being whole), 13 are iron (eight being 
whole), and four lead. As regards ownership, 73, whole and 
fragmentary, are in Mr. Mayer's collection, 53 in Mr. Smith's, 
and 122 in my own. 

The forms given here exhibit only a very few varieties of 
those in the collection. There are probably not fewer than 
ninety distinct forms ; indeed it is difficult to say that any 
two are identical. Some of these on Plate VIII. may have 
had shanks attached to them ; but, if so, these have perished. 
With the exception of 15 and 16 they are of brass, and of full 
size. From the delicacy of the acus in fig. 1, it would appear 
as if it had been used in connection with cloth rather than 
leather ; for it is a pin rather than a tongue. Fig. 2 may be 
contrasted with fig. 10 ; each is elliptical, but the former has 
its longer axis in the direction of its breadth, the latter in the 
direction of its length. Each has two projections like small 
horns; but in the former these are at the extremities of the 
liar to which the acus is attached, and, in the latter, at the 
extremity of that on which it falls. Eig. 3 has a groove for 
the acus to drop into ; and is ornamented with dragons' heads. 
A somewhat similar bronze buckle, with the dragons' heads in 
bold relief, holding the hinder bar, was found at Long Witten- 
lmin, Berks.* The others, in general, require no explanation, 
except to say thai fig. f>, though peculiar in form, is still simi- 
lar to others of frequent occurrence. An unnecessary quan- 
tity of metal appears to be employed, and it is drawn out into 
a fantastic form. It is undoubtedly of an early date.f and 
may he Saxon. J Fig. 9 exhibits traces of a runner between 

* ArchsDol., XXXVIIL, 333. I t C, fi. S, 

+ A. W. 1\ 



BUCKLES. 111! 

the collars. In the iron buckles, 15 and 16, the tongue is 
fastened by rust, and in the former it appears to have found 
its way to the wrong side. 

Of the examples engraved on Plate VIII., all are brass, 
except 15 and 16, which are iron. Figs. 2, 4, 5, 10, 15, and 
16, represent objects in Mr. Mayer's collection, and are all 
declared to be mediaeval.* Figs. 12, and 8, represent others in 
Mr. Smith's; 3, one in Mrs. Longueville's ; and 1, 6, 7, 9, 11, 
13, 14, others in my own. It is said of all those on this plate 
that some are Saxon, and one or two perhaps Eoman ; but 
that the majority range from the thirteenth to the fifteenth 
century. 

4. — Double Buckles. 

These constitute only another variety; and their character 
may be seen from the first six examples on Plate IX. Fig. 1 
is large and strong, though elegant in form ; and, as in nume- 
rous other cases, the outer rim is stronger than the cross-bar on 
which the acus worked. It is of a twisted or rope pattern, 
and may possibly have served as a species of clasp. Fig. 2 i - 
a fragment ; but when perfect it has been very elegant, with 
floreated extremities at the cross-bar, and at the sides of the 
knob on which the acus falls. Fig. 3 is crown-shaped, wit h 
shoulders on the cross-bar to retain the aces in its place ; but 
it is not a double buckle in the ordinary sense of the term, us 
the two sides are not symmetrical. The end of the strap 
passed through the upper opening, and was pierced by the 
acus; after which it could be passed through the lower open- 
ing, and lie under the end of the strap which was attached i-> 

the buckle. Fig. 4 is not merely a double buckle, but 

with a shank; and, like all the others in that row, it is nar- 
rower at the position of the cross-bar than either ah. 
below. It bears a rude resemblance to the Bgure 8, and is 
almost identical in form with that which appears od the | 
belt of Thomas do Greye, 1562, given amen- the N 

* C. H. S. 



102 PART IT. — THE OBJECTS. 

brasses. In that case, however, the buckle has two prongs. 
Fig. 5 is a further example of a double buckle with an attach- 
ment ; and it is not unlikely that fig. 2 may have had one 
also. But in this case the leather strap appears to have been 
much narrower than the buckle, if we may judge from the 
attachment, while in fig. 4 it was broader. Tig. 6 is an irre- 
gular ellipse ; the cross-bar remains, "but the acus is gone. 
Fig. 7, like fig. 3, is a double buckle in appearance only. The 
acus fell merely on one side, and the lower opening admitted 
of the insertion of the opposite end of the leather. There are 
two flanges raised up ; and the acus, in the shape of a T or St. 
Anthony's cross, plays within these. Fig. 8 is not a buckle, 
and is engraved here by mistake. It is a sort of connecting 
link between the buckle and the clasp. One end of the 
leather was inserted in the narrow rectangular space, and 
made fast round the bar, which is broken in the original. The 
remaining space was open for the insertion of a metallic 
attachment on the other end of the strap. 

Objects of this class are not numerous, amounting to only 
sixteen in all. Fifteen are of brass ; and eleven, including the 
only lead one, belong to Mr. Smith. Of those engraved, figs. 
1, 2, 4, 5, 7, are from Mr. Smith's collection ; 6, from Mr. 
Mayer's ; 3 and 8, from my own. 

5. — General Kemarks. 

As this subject is relatively so large, a few general remarks 
may not be out of place. 

Shoe-buckles are mentioned so early as the time of Tiers 
Plowman, who, speaking of the improved comfort of friars, 
says :— 

Now have they buckled shoes, 
Lest they hurt their heels, 
And hose in hard weather 
Fastened at the ancle. 

These gave place in time to other modes of fastening shoes ; 
but they were re-introduced about the time of William and 




L WQRfULL.UTH 



FDR D R HUMES HOYLAKX ANT 



DOUBLE BUCKLES AND HASPS. 



BUCKLES. 



103 



Mary, and maintained their place till the end of the last cen- 
tury. They are mentioned as being used upon the boots by 
John de Garlande, thirteenth century, who introduces the 
Latin term Pluscula, and interprets * it by the old English 
" bogyll." He adds — " Pluscularii (bogelers) sunt divites per 
plusculas (bogyls) suas, et lingulas, et ruordacula, per linias, et 
loralia (brydels) equina." 

They were also employed for fastening the garters in the 
reign of Edward III. ; and the buckle still preserved upon the 
badge of the Knights of the Garter, is a relic of the practice. 
Latimer tells us in one of his sermons, f " My father was able, 
and did find the king a harness, with himself and his horse, 
while he came to the place that he should receive the king's 
wages. I can remember that I buckled his harness when he 
went to Blackheath field." 

Buckles large and small were used on various parts of the 
armour ; and in " Some Passages in the Life of a Herefordshire 
Lady during the Civil War," % a payment is recorded as made 
in 1639:— 

"To Mr. Brian Nevzton, for putting buckles on the tasses of the 
armour of Bradard." 

Among the remains of men and horses, buckles are found 
in the position which they occupied on the dress or equip- 
ment. For example, at Filkins§ in Oxfordshire, a large iron 
buckle was found at a woman's waist ; and there are nume- 
rous such examples in the diggings of Faussett, Mr. Akerman, 
and others. || Among early Saxon remains at Barrow Furlong, 
the iron bit and a buckle were found lying by the jaws of 
a horse. The buckles on the girdles of knights were not only 
numerous, but sometimes very splendid.^ They are still 



* Mayer's Vocab. p. 123. 
t Sermon V. ; On the Duty of 
Kings. 

X Archseologia, XXXVII., 204. 
§ Ibid., XXXVII., 142. 



|| Ibid., XXXIII., 330. 

^f I have alluded to the subject in 
some detail, in the Transactions of 
the Historic Society of Lancashire and 
Cheshire, vol. XIV., p. 150, &e. 



104 



PART H. — THE OBJECTS. 



occasionally found along with swords, and somewhere near 
the waist. 

Buckles were found in connection with the remains of a 
British cliarioteer, in a tumulus on the wolds of Yorkshire* 
These were five in number. The tongues of some of them 
still remain, and they undoubtedly belonged to the harness. 
In the treatise of Walter de Biblesworth, thirteenth century, 
they are mentioned among the things necessary for the 
chariotf 

Les cous de cliivaus portuut esteles, 

Coleres de quyr et bourle boceles. 

On the fly-leaf of the Book of Ballymote, 1394, Noah is 
represented with a buckle on his belt ; $ and a description of 
Donough Macnamara, 1459, represents him as putting on a a 
saffron-coloured belt of war, embellished with clasps and 
buckles."§ In the collection of the Royal Irish Academy, there 
are on one tray fifty bronze buckles, single and double, of 
different patterns, but none of much antiquity. They vary in 
size from half an inch to seven-eighths, and were evidently 
personal in some cases, though in others possibly used in 
harness. || In another part of the collection are twenty-seven 
buckles, several of which are attached to bronze straps ; and 
large belt buckles. f In an old print of the Black Prince, the 
waist-belt and shoulder-belt have double buckles ; and in one 
of James, 10th Earl of Derby, double buckles. 

In the Shuttleworth Accounts there are various notices of 
buckles, showing their price at the close of the sixteenth 
century; and on two occasions buckles for harness arc 
named.** 



Proceedings of the Archaeological 



Institute ;it York ; and W 

Primitive Antiquities, 101. 
I M.i\ er's Vocabularies, ]>. 
J Wilde's Catalogue, '5<>i. 

$ II.. 320, n. 

|| II). 596. 
• lb 



168. 



** The Saddler of Whaleye, for 
headstall and reininge for two newe 
bridles, and all now furniture belong- 
ing tO the same, xiip nip 1 ; for seaven 
newe tagges which was sett to my 
Mr. Saddles, x d ; nails, viij* : buckles, 
v l ; for garthe-webb to be seaven 
garthes, w j : . p. lOfi : see also 47:>. 



BUCKLES. 



10; 



The buckle-maker followed a separate and distinct trade, 
which is noticed in several of the mediaeval treatises. Besides 
the name Phiscularius, we also find in the glossaries "Hie 
Capettarius, a bokyl-maker." * 

Some of the ornamental buckles on belts, especially those 
of ladies, were four or five inches long, and gilt. A very 
elegant example was found on the body of Edward I., when 
it was exposed in Westminster Abbey, in 1774. It was 
decorated with imitation gems and pearls. t A similar large 
one is found on a brass in St. Stephen's Church, Norwich, 
where, contrary to custom, the acus passes through the belt 





Maud, wife of Thomas Blackball, 
Wirksworfch Church, 1526. 



Blacliwall Bras?, Wirksw< rth 
Church. 



instead of under or over it, as in the examples shown here. 
Roman bronze buckles have been found by Mr. Smith at 
Richborough;t and buckles have also been found in Frankish 
graves, § numerous and different in form. Owing to the 
changes of time, however, the ancient trade of Plusculariu8 
lias disappeared, or has become merged in the more general 
manufacture of hardware; and the more frequent use of 



* Nominate, Mayer's Vocabularies, X Antiquities of Richborongh, p. 
212. 88. 

t Planche, p. 131. 



§ Archaeologia, XX XVII. 104, 



106 PAKT IT. — THE OBJECTS. 

machinery, as well as the tendency to localize productions 
of a certain kind, has withdrawn from our view that which 
was formerly a prominent and interesting department of the 
arts. 



V.— HASPS OR CLASPS.— Plates IX. & X. 
1. — General Remarks. 

The hasp, or " clasp," as it was more usually called, was 
almost indispensable in the dress and decorations of the middle 
ages. The variety of forms which it can assume may be seen 
almost any day in the dresses of the children of a village 
school; and, from what follows, it will be seen that such 
objects were also very varied in the olden time. 

The remains of a clasp were found at Mentmore in Bucks, 
by Mr. Ouvry,* and clasps were found in large numbers, in 
1852, in tumuli of North Germany and near the Elbe.f The 
morse or clasp was generally of rich goldsmith's work, and 
the patterns were numerous. A picture of one is given by 
Mr. Fairholt in his Costume in England, p. 566. Sir Walter 
Scott represents Prior Aymer as wearing one of these clasps 
in the reign of King John. 

Id defiance of conventual rules, and the edicts of popes and councils, 
the sleeves of this dignitary were lined and turned up with rich furs, 
and his mantle secured at the throat with a golden clasp. — Ivanhoe I., 
p. 19. 

In Mr. Eoach Smith's Catalogue of London Antiquities% 
a girdle clasp is figured, of bronze enamelled ; the red and 
yellow colours being still partly visible. There are two bars 
underneath for fastening the belt. Among the articles in the 
Royal Museum at Copenhagen, is a girdle clasp inlaid with 
niello. § Another has two square attachments or shanks, with 
a circular disc-like clasp in the centre. || There is a front face 



* Archtcolog. XXXV., 380. 
t lb. XXXVI., 279. 
j No. 801, l'. 05. 



§ Worsase Aibildninger, \\ 77. 
|| lb., i». 82. 



HASPS OR CLASPS 



107 



on the clasp, and a chess-board pattern on the attachments, 
surrounded by figures. 

In the paintings which represent the domestic life of the 
Aztecs, both mother and daughter have a square clasp at the 
bosom fastening the dress ; * and something of the same kind 
is noticeable on the Assyrian sculptures. There is a clasp on 
the belt of a warrior, the leather being apparently inserted in 
the metal ; f there is a curious clasp on the girdle of the king ; J 
and, again, a metallic clasp on a belt is unusually plain. § 

Dr. Wilson, in his Archaeology and Prce-historic Annals of 
Scotland, describes and figures a supposed belt clasp. It is like 
a link of a chain, of black shale, and was found in the Isle of 
Skye. Its length is about three inches. Mr. Eoaoh Smith also 
notices several clasps from Stowe Heath, in Suffolk ; || and 
in Mr. Fairkolt's Costume in England, there are several given. ^f 
In Meyrick and Skelton's Armour a tace is fastened without a 
buckle,** and in several places are represented studs, which 
pass through holes, and turn round so as to stand across, f -[* 
This mode of fastening bears some resemblance to one plan 
which is suggested hereafter from the objects found in 
Cheshire. 

The following are a few examples of hasps or clasps of 
unusual interest. At Wappenham, a lady appears with two 
large studs in front ; JJ they form a clasp as in modern times. 
In the carved statues in front of Barneck Church, Northamp- 
tonshire, there is one with a distinct clasp on the front of a 
robe with jewelled border. The date is supposed to be temp. 
Henry VI. or VII. §§ In an ancient mosaic, discovered at 
Seville in Spain, a Roman is represented as leading his horse. 



* Schoolcraft's Archives of Abori- 
ginal Information, IV., 441. 

t Layard's Illustrations, Plate xvii. 

% lb., PI. xxiii. 

§ lb., PI. xxxv. 

|| Collectanea Antiqua, Vol. III. 

H Costume in England; a History 
of Dress from the earliest period till 



the eighteenth century, pp. 273, 285, 
295. 

** Plate viii. 

ft Plates xix. xxvii. 

XX Hudson's Monumental Brasses 
of Northamp., PI. xv. 

§§ Carter's A net. Sculpture and 
Painting, Vol. I. 



108 PART IT. — THE OBJECTS. 

His waist is encircled by a succession of belts, that round liis 
loins being secured by a hasp or clasp, and decorated with 
ornamental studs. 

The term Firmacularius, applied to the maker of these 
clasps or hasps, and also to the makers of buckle-brooches 
and fermails. John de Garlande says : * — 

Firmacularii habent ante se firmacula parva et magna, de plumbo 
facta et de stagno, ferro, cupro, et calibe j. habent etiarn herea ; pulchra 
monilia, et nolas resonantes. 

2. — Classification axd Detailed Description. 

The term hasps has been adopted as a general term to 
indicate a variety of modes of fastening ; as, for example, 
where neither pin nor acus of buckle is employed. It must 
not be supposed, therefore, that the objects are all of one 
character ; on the contrary they are very varied, and admit of 
subdivision into several classes. Omitting the first eight 
objects engraved on Plate IX., and which have already been 
noticed under the head of Double Buckles, the whole of the 
types may be seen in the fifteen other objects on Plate IX., 
and the twenty-one on Plate X. Fur the sake of order we 
shall treat of them in groups. 

(1.) The three which are indicated by the num- 
bers 9, 10, and 11, Plate IX., all possess shanks or 
attachments ; so that they admit of being fastened 
to cloth or leather. It is obvious that they were 
intended for light work, as they are incapable of 
sustaining a great strain ; but any of them would 
serve admirably for the suspension of a light object 
round the neck, say the bugle-horn, dagger, or 
wood-knife. Their characteristic is, however, that 
each has a sort of lid hinged round the front bar, 
and dropping down so as nearly to cover the whole 

Hasp from tho 

Temple cuun-h. S p ace f the clasp, big. 10 appears to be deco- 

* Mayer's Vocal), p, [25, 



\\ 



HASPS OK CLASPS. 109' 

rated with a little point ; and the lid in fig. 11 is thicker than 
in the others, and consists of two rolls. A somewhat similar 
example w^as found a few years ago, during the repairs in the 
Temple Church. It was procured in or near a tomb ; and it is 
represented in Mr. Eiehardson's work on the Temple Church, 
in which the ancient coffins, &c, are delineated. It will be 
observed that the little lid is hinged on the upper side in 
this case, instead of on the lower side, as in the examples 
given on Plate IX. It is supposed that fastenings of this 
kind required to be undone rapidly, and that the knot of 
a cord, or a thickened portion of a strap, passed up and kept 
the lid closed, merely by the weight resting on it. The knot 
could be passed through when the lid was raised, but not 
otherwise. In fig. 17, Plate X., there is an attempt to show 
the way in which it was probably used. I have six of these 
in my own collection, and Mr. Smith has three ; so that we 
know of nine, all brass. Of the examples engraved, figs. 
9 and 10 are from my collection, and fig. 11 from Mr. 
Smith's. 

(2.) Figs. 12 and 21 are brass or bronze hasps, with shanks 
or attachments ; figs. 13, 14, 19, 23, are lead ones with similar 
appendages. These are the only leaden objects delineated on 
this plate. None of the six appears to have been qualified to 
bear a severe strain ; for lead is a yielding material, and, except 
in the case of 21, none of them had more than a single rivet. 
The four that are of lead, and fig. 21, are each cast in a single 
piece ; whereas in fig. 12 the shank revolves on the hinder bar 
of the clasp. All the lead ones, and one of the brass ones, are 
very broad and strong at the point or front bar ; and two of the 
lead ones, 14 and 19, exhibit a slight attempt at ornamen- 
tation. On the shank of fig. 12 is an arrow ; and on that of 
21 there is a sort of double curve. 

On Plate XL a large hasp of this kind has been engraved 
by mistake, fig. 22. One with an oval orifice is shown 



no 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 





Belt Hasp from Gloucestershire. 



here; it was found in a man's grav 
in Kent, It is of brass, and there were 
pieces of leather adhering to it. Another 
very pretty object in bronze, with a circu- 
lar termination, is supposed to have been 

Belt Hasp from Kent. fi lQ en( -l Q £ ft ^ Qr gJjjjQfc ft wag f Qxm & 

at Fairford, 
in Glouces- 
t e r s h i r e, 
and is de- 
scribed by 
Mr. Aker- 

man* It is prettily ornamented with lines and circles, and 
has been fastened by two rivets. One, with a ring similar to 
this, was found at Steinberg in Switzerland, and is figured by 
M. Troyon ;f and an oblong bronze one in the Meyrick collec- 
tion, is ornamented with three dragons' heads. 

Figs. 15, 16, 17, and 18 are hasps, but without shanks; and 
all of them exhibit the characteristic just noticed, i. c, great 
1 >readth and strength at the extremity or front bar. In the 
four examples, this metallic protuberance assumes four diffe- 
rent forms. In the first (15), it is plain with panelled spaces, 
which have an intermediate space as if for the tongue of a 
buckle; in the second (16), it assumes a more elaborate 
ornamentation ; in the third (17), we have something like a 
cat's head; and in the fourth (18), with some partial piercing 
there La a little triangular open work. The object, fig. 18, is 
of the fifteenth century. + 

In the three principal collections there are sixty-six hasps 
of this general class; viz., fifty-four of bra--, and twelve of 
Lead Of these, forty-five arc in my own collection, fifteen in 
Mr. Smith's, and six in Mr. Mayer's, 

Of the objects engraved, figs. L2, 15, 16, 17. IS. and 21, are 
brass; and figs. 13, 14, 19, and 23, lead Again, fig. 21 is 

* ArchfiBologia, WWII., 146. | ii, fig. L8. 
+ Habitation! Lacustrcs, p, 162, PL ' t A W. 1 ■ 



HASPS OR CLASPS. Ill 

from Mr. Smith's collection; 13 and 23 from Mr. Mayer's; 
and the other seven enumerated from my own. 

(3.) Figs. 20 and 22 constitute a class of themselves ; and 
both afford facilities for being attached to leather. Fig. 20 
has two rivet-holes, and appears to have been ornamented 
with fifteen small circles, each having a central dot, the whole 
rudely resembling a peacock's tail. One or two of these, 
which symmetry would require to be present, appear to have 
been obliterated. The hook may have been used to take hold 
of a hasp, or to be inserted in cloth for the purpose of 
sustaining it. The other hook, 22, affords space for the 
insertion of leather ; and its point is more fully developed, 
showing sufficient strength to work on metal, or in a hole of 
leather or cloth. Instead of the ornamentation by circles, it 
presents us with a circular space having a wreathed band at 
its outer margin, and a sort of double rose in the centre. If 
we allow this fact to have its usual significance, the object 
must be assumed to be more modern than the commencement 
of the reign of Henry VIII. It is for hooking a strap,* and is 
of the fifteenth or sixteenth century. Similar hooks and their 
application are shown in Wildes Catalogue, E, I. A., p. 572, 
and in the Ulster Journal of Archceology, IX., 271, 274. 

It is probably to such hooks that allusion is made in the 
Cobbler of Canterbury, 1608 — 

Her sleeves blew, her traine beliinde, 
With silver hookes was tucked I find. 
It is not impossible that hooks of this kind were used to 
lay hold on the orifice of the clasp ; but larger ones would be 
required for the two ter- 
minations given above 
from Kent and Glou- 
cestershire. For a hook 
catch for nook. like that represented in 
fig. 22, a catch like the first of these 
would be suitable. It also served as a oneofivocatcru*. 

*C. u. s. 





112 



ART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



sort of leather ornament, being attached by three rivets. Two 
other ornaments, very similar to this one, ;we<re found by the 
right and left side of a skeleton, as if they had served for the 
suspension of objects from the belt.* The two objects, each of 
which has a 



through its 
were found to- 
was supposed 
of the linen or 




whole length, 
gether, and it 
that a portion 
other cloth was 



Peculiar Fastenings. 

pulled through the hole, and a pin run along through it. 
This is possible ; or each may have been employed in con- 
nection with one or two fastenings. 

There are about eight of these hooks, all of which, except 
fig. 20, belong to Mr. Smith. That one, which was one of the 
objects that first arrested attention, is the property of Mrs. 
Longueville. Hooks were sold by the travelling .pedlars of 
two or three centuries ago, no doubt of this and of other kinds 
also. 

(4.) There is a species of fastening of which we possess no 
specimen. It is called a " stud " from its appearance, though 
in reality a clasp ; and, having been reintroduced, we see it 
daily on the belts of women and children. The first is from the 
tomb of the wife of Sir Anthony Fitzherbert in Norbury Church, 





FiUherbert, Norbury Church, 168«. CVkaine Brass, 

;ni<l is of the date L588; the second is from theCokaine Brass, 
in Ashborne Church, Derby; This latter is the f< Girdle-stud," 
mentioned in the Affectionate Shepherd, quoted under the 



• Inv. Sep., p. 61, 



HASPS OR CLASPS. 



113 



head of Bosses and Studs. In the fourteenth century, when 
the buckle beganjo disappear, the morse or clasp took its place ; 
and we may regard it as a species of this, though the mode of 
fastening does not appear. 

In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries three studs were 
occasionally employed, or golden rosettes, which must have 
appeared yery beautiful. A chain was pendent from them, 
at the end of which hung a pomander 
,box, or something of this sort. The 
brasses of two ladies called Tilghman,* 
in Snodland Church, Kent, 1641, ex- 
hibit that mode of fastening ; and an 
elegant example appears in Sefton 
Church, Lancashire, on the brass of 
Margaret Bulkeley, (1529,) daughter 
of Eichard Molyneux. Other exam- 
pies may be seen in Chesterfield and 

From Morley, 1485. *- d 

Morley Churches, Derbyshire. 





From Chesterfield Chureh 

(5.) On Plate X. there are two objects of peculiar construc- 
tion. These are figs. 1 and 23, the former of which is brass, 
and the latter lead. The characteristic of each is that it con- 
tains two rectangular spaces of unequal sizes ; though in the 
former the larger one almost merges into a semicircle, and 
in the latter they become rhomboids by compression of the 

* Oxford Brasses, p. 138. 



114 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

lead. The former is ornamented by a fox's head, winch runs 
nearly along the top, and which is suggestive probably of the 
woodcraft of the person who was expected to nse it. We will 
not be far wrong in supposing that a strap of leather went 
round the hinder bar, occupying the smaller space, and leaving 
the larger one to receive the fastening from the other end of 
the strap. Fig. 2 appears to have been of the same class, but 
slightly injured, like fig. 8 on Plate IX. 

There are fourteen objects of this kind in the collection — ■ 
five of brass and nine of lead. To Mr. Smith eight of them 
belong, to Mr. Mayer four, and to myself two. Of those 
engraved, figs. 1 and 2 are from my own collection, and are 
brass ; fig. 23 is from Mr. Smith's, and is lead. 

(6.) Another class of objects is indicated by figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 
1.0, 13. It will be seen that 7 and 11 have holes at one side, 
as if forming part of a swivel ; there are similar holes in 6 
and 10, which are invisible in the drawing ; and there were 
similar holes in 8 and 9, but they are filled up by the points 
being rusted in the holes. The six objects are of six different 
shapes, square, arched, stirrup-shaped, pentagonal, &e., but 
they coincide in this point. We will see the reason by and by. 

So many as twenty-eight of these objects have been pro- 
cured, all of which are brass but one, which is lead. Of these, 
sixteen belong to myself, ten to Mr. Mayer, and two to Mr. 
Smith. Those which are engraved are all brass; figs. 10 and 
11 are from Mr. Mayer's set, and the other four from my own. 

(7.) As if to supply the deficiency of the objects last noticed, 
we find a set with projecting points, such as are shown in figs. 
12, 13, 14. These again are all of different shapes, semicir- 
cular, rectangular, and stirrup-,shapedj also, while one is prettily 
ornamented with the fox's head which we saw in fig. 1, another 
consists of plain square metal, and the third is rounded, and 
tenninatea m a knob. Figs. 15 and 1(> show the use which 

we suggest for these pieces of metal. Fig. J.6 represents a 

strap attached to the Lower part of one with two spaces (like 







.ifv 






d-qee 



i6 



E3 





rOH D". HUMLS H0«L»K[kHT. 



J E WORRALL LITH. 



HASP8 




HASPS OK CLASPS. 115 

1 or 23), and a slight piece of metal is riveted over the junction 
of the strap. The two which constitute the swivel are attached 
to the other end of the strap, as in fig. 15, and the fastening is 
prepared. The semicircular piece of metal passes through 
the rectangular space, and is turned round and stands across 
it. It is unloosed by turning it so as not to stand across, but 
to pass through the opening. The accompanying woodcut, 
which was rudely cut by an amateur in 1847, 
may serve to show the fastening both open and 
shut. 

There are fifty-four objects in the collection, 
like 12, 13, and 14 ; of which one only is lead. 
Of these, eight belong to Mr. Mayer, nine to 
Mr. Smith, and thirty-seven to myself. Figs. 
13 and 14 are from objects in Mr. Mayer's col- 
lection, and ik>\ 12 from one in my own. 

Open. Shut. ; ° J 

(8.) Another class of objects is shown in six of the seven 
figures which form the two lowest rows. Instead of a sepa- 
rate rectangular space, as in figs. 1 and 23, there are merely 
one or two projecting points beyond which the strap was 
fastened. There is less variety of form in these, though there 
is some ; and the purpose was answered as well as by a cross- 
bar. There are nineteen of these objects in all, and the whole 
of them are brass. In my own collection there are twelve, in 
Mr. Smith's four, and in Mr. Mayer's three. All the six objects 
engraved are from among my own specimens. 

One would expect, if this theory be correct of the mode of 
using them, that the three great classes would exist in nearly 
equal numbers ; viz., those with the swivel axis, those with 
the swivel hole, and those with neither. And possibly they 
did exist in equal numbers at the time of their deposit, how- 
ever different they may be now in that respect. Omitting the 
leaden ones, of the first kind there are fifty-three, of the second 
twenty-seven, and of the third twenty-four. 

(9.) There are a few of special forms, as figs. 3 and 4, which 



116 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



have been suspended at the points of the fork, and which, are 
similar in structure, though the latter has a knob on one side. 
Fig. 5 is a thin strip of metal, which may have been used like 
fig. 8 ; but perhaps it was only a binding or ferrule on a 
square piece of wood, with a pin fastening its extremities 
together. 

It thus appears that, under the general name of "hasps," we 
enumerate two hundred objects, independent of one or two 
which are engraved by mistake on wrong plates. Probably 
not one of these is more than a portion of a hasp ; that is, one 
side of it, or even part of one side. The articles of brass are 
one hundred and seventy-seven, and of lead twenty-three ; or 
in the proportion of nearly seven and a half to one. 



VL— TAGS OR STRAP ENDS.— Plate XI. 

In modern times, the strap usually terminates in its own 
leather, which is supposed to be sufficiently substantial ; 
but in former times its point in each case was covered with 
a little plate of metal, or inserted within two folds of metal. 
This was the tag or pendant of which we now treat. It has 
been revived in our own days, especially in connection with 
the uniform of volunteers. 

The accompanying illustration shows a plain 
tag of an early date, and will serve to give an 
idea of their general character. It is from Mr. 
Jewitt's collection. A semicircular plate, sup- 
posed to be an object of this 
kind, was found in one of the 
Anglo-Saxon graves of Kent.* 
The simple pendant merely seeming to 
give weight and consistency to the strap, 





riain Ta?. 



* Jnv. Sepulchralei p. 84, 



TAGS OR STRAP ENDS. 



117 



maybe seen on the sword-belt of Albreclit v. Hohenlohe, 1319, 
as engraved on the slab in Sconthal Church, Germany. It 
occurs also on the brass of Thomas Statham, in Morley 
Church, Derbyshire, of the date 1470 ; and that of Eoger 
Bothe, in Sawley, 1478. In both these it appears ribbed down 
the centre. The one on the sword-belt of John DAubernon, 





Thomas Statham, Morley Church, 1470. Roger- Bothe, Sawley Church, 1478. 

1277, appears to be plain, with the ■ exception of a knob at 
its extremity. 

In general, such appendages were more or less ornamented ; 
besides which, there is a degree of harmony or resemblance 
between them and the shanks of attachments of the buckles 
in connection with which they were used. Thus, in the 
Trumpington brass, 1287, we notice a degree of harmony or 
uniformity between the shank of the buckle and the pendant 
on the guige of the shield ; and the same may be said of the 
metal on the guige of DAubernon. An example is found on 

the brass of Sir John 
Curzon, in Kedleston 
Church; while in that 
of Henry Sacheverell, 
iii Morley Church, 
1558, the uniformity 
is left in doubt, as the 

Sir John Curzon, Kedletton Church. tag Only is visibl .0, 

owing to the position of the strap. On the brass of Richard 




118 



PAUT II. — THE OBJECT* 




Kniveton of Mug- 
gington, Derby, the 
buckle and tag aire 
of two entirely dif- 
ferent patterns. The 
latter is perforated 




Hf nry Saeheverell, Morlev Church, 
1558. 



Kichavd Kniveton, 
Muggington, 1430. 



and fioreated ; and 
^ its extremities form an irregular semicircle 
instead of being in a straight line. The 
former is indented. In other cases, the two 
resembled each other, but were not identical in pattern. 

On the Stapletoii brass in Ingham Church, Norfolk, the 

plates on the belt are rectangular, while buckle and pendant 

(disagreeing with them) harmonize with each other in being 

circular. In some instances the tag merely bordered the end 

of the strap ; as is shown on the brass of De Bacon, 1320, in 

Gorleston Church, Suffolk, where it borders a beautifully 

studded belt. On that of Fitzralph also, in Pebmarsh Church, 

Essex, it borders a belt that is both barred and studded. 

a / The tag on the belt of Anne, wife of Hugh 

U-<fe^ 'Villi mghby of Hisley, 1514, in AVilne Church, 

|H| is of the same width as the belt, and exhibits 

a row of five circular perforations, with a knob 

at the extremity. 

The following may be mentioned as instances 
„ Anne, wife onrush of the more elaborate kind of decoration on 

A\ llloughby of Kisley, 

wane church, 1514. tags or pendants :— In the Special Exhibition 
of Works of Art at the South Kensington Museum, 1862, 
were two terminations of belts of the thirteenth century, both 
the property of John Webb, Esq. One represents the An- 
nunciation in high relief, under a canopy, and another the 
Adoration of* the Magi.* 

Tn some instances the pendant was made very Large ; so 
Large that it Cetald with difficulty be passed through the 




Catalogue, p. 13. 



TAGS OP, STIUP ENDS, 



119 



buckle. An example of this is found . on a Flemish brass 
of a knight and lady of the Comptom family, 1510, taken 
from ISTetley Abbey Church. A very large one is also found 
on a plain brass in St. Stephen's Church, Norwich; but as 
the buckle appears to be about four inches long, the pendant 
might have been passed through by inclining it sideways. 
In the painted window in Middleton Church, Lancashire, 
the archers of the ^neighbourhood are represented as return- 
ing thanks for their victory and safe return from Flodden. * 
The priest who kneels in front (" Henricus Taylyer, Capel- 
lanus/') has a belt with a brass pendant, which narrows 
towards the point, somewhat like figs. 5, 9, 10, Plate XL 

In the modern representations of the Garter the pendant is 
invariably floreated, and projects beyond the sides of the 
strap ; so that it would be quite impossible for it to pass 
through the buckle along with which it is represented. 
This is because painters and engravers do not know the 
use of the pendant, or do not think of the subject at all.f 
At the period when the article was actually worn, whenever 
the pendant was decorated so as to project beyond the strap, 
the buckle was made wider in like manner. This may be 
seen in the garter of Lord Camoys, in Trotton Church, Essex, 
and still more clearly in that of Sir Thomas Bullen, father-in- 
law to King Henry VIIL, at Hever, Kent. There is a represen- 
tation of the garter in the British Museum, which is understood 
to belong to the fourteenth century. The garter itself is nearly 
half an inch broad, and the circuit of it more than three 
and a half inches in diameter.} In this example the converse 
of the modern practice is found ; the tag or pendant being 



* There is an engraving in James's 
Iter Lancastrense, frontispiece ; but 
I possess a more accurate drawing, 
presented to me by Mr. French of 
Bolton. 

t One draughtsman assured me 
that though he had drawn the Royal 



Arms many hundreds of times, he 
never had an idea of what was meant 
by the ornament at the end of the 
garter. 

X It is engraved, Archrcologia, 
XX XI. p. 141. 



120 



PART IT. — THE OBJECTS, 




Garter, Blowing Pendant, Fourteenth Century. 

of the same breadth as the strap, but the buckle considerably 
wider.* 

On the brass of Eoger Bothe, in Sawley Church, Derby- 
shire, there arc metal tassels attached to the pendant ; but, 
as one can move over the other, they do not occupy any 
additional space in passing through the buckle. And in sonic 



* " There can be no doubt that this 
belonged to the fourteenth century ; 
nnd the kneeling figure appears to be 
intended for the Black Prince, because 
the label in his arms is of three points, 
and is not charged. He is evidently 
adoring the Trinity (though the Dove 
is not introduced), and the Father 

seems to be seated on a rainbow, w iili 



his feet on the terraqueous globe. 
Behind him is an angel, who holds 
his helmet and crest; and above him 
is a shield of the arms of France and 
England quarterly, with a plain label 
of three points, which is held by an- 
other angel. He is in armour, and 
wears a surcoat of the same arms." — 
Archceoiogia, vol. XXXI. p. 140. 



TAGS OK STRAP ENDS. 



121 





From iluggington, 
Derby- 



CaSeS the pendant lias been 
<\ so large that it never could 
pass through the buckle, so 
that the belt must have 
been thrown over the head. 
In Strutt's Dress and Habits* 
there is a lady of the fif- 
teenth century whose belt 

Roger Bothe^Sawl.y Church, ailSWeTS this description. On 

one of the straps of- Richard Kniveton, at Muggington, is a 
buckle much wider than the strap to which it is attached ; 
it is also open at the spot where the point of the acus falls. 
There can be little doubt that either the inserted strap was 
broader than the existing one, or that the pendant to be 
passed through was unusually large, f At Harnham Hill, 
Salisbury, a strap-tag, found with a skeleton, resembles in 
shape the blade of a lancet, J 

Pendants are not only figured on ancient monumental 
effigies, they are preserved still in the museums of the curious, 
and are turned up from time to time in the graves of persons 
interred within the last thousand years. A large number, and of 
very varied character, were brought to light in the Anglo-Saxon 
graves in Kent ; they are figured and described by Mr. Smith, 
in the Invent avium Sepulchrale, and preserved by Mr. Mayor 
in his interesting museum at Liverpool. In- the collection of 
Mr. Smith himself, which passed over to the possession' of the 
nation, there were many ; and a few examples exist through- 
out the country of ancient belts preserved to our own times, 
the attachments, studs or plates, and pendants, still re- 
maining. § Such decorative terminations are common in 



* Vol. II. Plate cxix. 

t I have never seen the whole 
figure, and therefore speak from re- 
presentations of parts of the straps 
only. 

I Archtfol., XXXV. 278. 



§ There is a lady's girdle, five feet 
long, of about the date 1460, in the 
possession of Octavius Morgan, Esq. 

i It is thus described : — " A lady's 
girdle or baldric, of crimson and gold 

I brocade velvet, with rosettes of gold- 



122 



PART IT. — THE OBJECTS. 



Switzerland and Savoy as relics of the past/ and one was 
found in the grave of a young Frankisli warrior at Envermeu, 
in the Lower Seine, in 1856. 

Sometimes they assume peculiar shapes, or are found in 
peculiar positions. For example, the beautiful metallic 
pendant on the belt of Sir Oliver De Ingham,-}- appears to be 
attached to cloth rather than to leather ; and the representa- 
tion of a king and queen in the eleventh century, shows that 
each of them has a couple of sabretache-looking^ tassels 
appended to the extremities of cords in the dress. 

In the collection of Mr. Mayer are one or two objects 
which were at first mistaken for domestic forks. Each is 
about three inches long ; and from an 
acorn-shaped head project two prongs, 
diverging slightly towards their points. 
Several of these were 
found by Fausset, of which 
one from Gilton-town is 
shown, but he did not 
understand their use. One 
from the valuable collec- 
tion of Mr. Roach Smith, 
shows that they served the 
purpose of tags or pen- 
dants ; and thus harmo- 
nized with the buckles 
having divided shanks or 
attachments, as in Plate VII, figs. 7, 
9. The fork was inserted in a metallic 
sheath or case, from which, owing to 
its form, it could not be extracted. 




From Gilton-town- 




Forked Pendant, n.tnni i u 
found in London. 



smith's work enriched with enamel. 
The buckle and the pendant of silver 
gilt, chased with foliage in relief, and 
inlaid with niello-plaques and with 
armorial hearings, the escuteheon on 
the pendant being that of the l'ami!\ 



Malatesta of Rimini and Cresena." — 
Catalogue of the Special Exhibition at 
South Kaisinuton, p. t'>;>. 

* Archseologia, XXXVII. 105, 
+ Meyrick. vol. II. PI. xxxiii. 



TAGS Oft STRAP ENDS. 






unless the two plates of the sheath were separated by being 
broken. Mr. Smith's object is given here, both with and 
without its metallic casing. 

In the dresses of ladies, the pendant sometimes became of 
large dimensions, and of great beauty of form, though it did 
not always harmonize with the ornamentation of the belt and 
buckle. Thus, the belt of Anne Babington seems to be of 
two different patterns on its opposite sides, and the tag and 
buckle not harmonizing ; while on that from the Curzon 
Brass, the buckle and tag are again of different designs. 

No doubt, variety was 
thought to contribute to 
beauty and magnificence. 
In the figure from Kedle- 
ston Church, the tag ap- 
pears to be perforated. It 
will be observed that both 
these examples illustrate 
a practice which was at one 
time common, and which 
has been noticed under 
Buckles ; viz., that of pass- 
ing the girdle over the 
acus or tongue of the long 
buckle, and under the 
It was thus woven 
between the three bars of metal, and lay approximately in 
the same plane by the sides, not by the ends. In an example 
from Hathersage Church, the girdle is not so interweave* 1, 
and the buckle and pendant do not harmonize. The belt is 
inserted laterally, and perforated by the acus. Two other 
interesting examples of the custom are given elsewhere, botli 
from Wirksworth church, but neither of them calling for any 
special remark. In Mr. Roach Smith's collection there were 
numerous tags attached to straps. 




Curzon Brass, Kedleston 
Church. 



Anne, daughter of John Babing- 
ton, wife of Kichard Rolleston, 1 
of Lea, Ashover Church, 1507. LUgLb. 



124 



FART IT. — THE OBJECTS. 



The objects of this class m the 
collection are about 121 ; viz., 108 
of brass or bronze, and 13 of lead. 
Mr. Smith possesses thirty of these, 
Mr. Mayer thirty-nine, and fifty-two 
are my own. Of the twenty-three 
objects engraved, seven are my own ; 
viz., 2, 9, 12, 13, 16, 17, and 19 ; 
three are Mr. Smith's, 8, 22, and 23 ; 
one, 3, is Mrs. Longueville's> and the 
remaining twelve are Mr. Mayer's. 

Plate XT. exhibits more than twenty 
examples of pendants, nearly all of 
bronze or brass. Three only, figs. 14, 
Figs. 1 and 5 correspond generally in 
size and shape, but they differ in the style of their ornamenta- 
tion. Each has a sort of rude head at the top, the rivet-holes 
forming the eyes ; and a lower end like a fish's mouth. The 
former is old. Fig. 2 contains a plain square at one end, and 
the remainder of it, between two bordering lines, is decorated 
with fretwork, like the pattern* so often seen on ancient monu- 
ments. It is Saxon, -f- Fig. 3 appears to have been attached 
with two studs, the points being upward ; and 4, which 
exhibits signs of having been lettered, is divided into three 
nearly equal spaces by parallel lines down the centre. 

The five in the next row all become narrower towards the 




Wife of Rol>t. Eyre, Hathersagfr 
Ciiurch, 1656. 

21, and 23, are of lead. 



* It has been ingeniously suggested 
by Mr. French of Bolton, that many 
of the early crosses in Britain were 
made of wicker-work, no doubt filled 
with sand, or some such substance, to 
give them solidity ; and he has had 
several beautiful ones constructed in 
illustration of this theory. If the 
idea be correct, it supplies a reason 
for the interlaced patterns in imita- 
tion of basket-work, which we after- 



wards find on stone crosses; and the 
same style of ornamentation was 
applied to minute objects. In like 
manner, Sir James Hall. Bart., traced 
many of the forms of Gothic archi- 
tecture to the imitations of wicker- 
work, of which the earliest Christian 
Churches in this country were con- 
structed, 
t A, W. F. 




FOR 0" HUME'S HOYLfcKt *NT 



J.EWORRALL LlTH 



TAGS OR STRAP ENDS. 



£AG® Oil BffRAP. EK1>S. 125 

point, and no one appears to have liad more than two rivets 
attaching it to the strap. Figs. 6 and 7 are intersected by 
wavy lines ; but the former has a termination like a finial in 
architecture, while the latter is finished off by a very ugly 
head. Fig. 8 ends in an acorn-like extremity, with numerous 
parallel ridges above it, the whole being solid below the place 
where the strap was inserted. Figs. 9, 12, and 16, bear a 
general resemblance in form, and in the graceful terminating 
point; but 12 is less narrowed than the others, and the 
shoulders near the point are more rectangular. Each of them 
has been attached by two rivets. In fig. 9, part of the leather 
strap still remains,- preserved for centuries by the antiseptic 
qualities of the turf bog in which it was imbedded. Mr. 
Koach Smith has figured a pendant in his "Antiquities of 
Kichborough," of the general form of fig. 15, but a little larger. 
It is Saxon, and of bronze, and still contains the metallic 
rivet or stud which fastened the leather between its plates of 
metal. Fig. 15 also has been pronounced Saxon.* 

Fig. 10 diminishes to the end, but otherwise calls for no 
remark; and 17 and 19 are plain, but of different forms. 
Fig. 13 exhibits the two plates of metal for the reception of the 
leather, and, at its lower extremity, has a rudely shaped head. 
Fig. 14, which is of lead, exhibits the name "ION BON ; " 
and 23, which is also of lead, is of the usual type. Fig. 18 is 
a fragment, rectangular, with a pattern whose character cannot 
be ascertained. 

Figs. 20 and 21 are both curious in form ; the latter 
bearing some resemblance to fig. 7 in the distinctness of its 
head, and the angularity of the shoulders. But the most 
singular of all, in some respects, is fig. 11. Besides the two 
rivet-holes for attaching it to the strap, which are quite dis- 
tinguishable from all the other perforations, it contains nume- 
rous other holes apparently without order. On examination 

* A. W. F. 



126 VXHT II. — THE OBJECTS. 

these appear to "be twelve in number, and arranged in regular 
rows of two each. The third and sixth pairs of holes are 
close together; the remaining four pairs are nearly equi- 
distant. Most probably this was an actual fastening as well 
as a tag, and hooked on to a pair of points bearing some 
resemblance to the two prongs of a buckle. Fig. 22 is 
certainly the termination of a belt strap, but it appears to 
have formed one half of a hasp or clasp. It contains the 
letters IHC on the attachment or shank, and -S* in the open 
work. There is a massive tag of iron, which is not engraved, 
in the set belonging to myself. It is said to be Eoman. 

We find pendants alluded to by Walter de Biblesworth at 
the close of the thirteenth century. His English glosses are 
interlined with his ancient French ; but, for the sake of 
convenience, they are here put in brackets, after the words 
which they are intended to explain. 

De la ceynture le pendaunt [the girdilis ende tipping], 
Passe par my le mordaunt [thout the bokell], 
Einsy doyt le hardiloun [the tungge], 
Passer par tru de subiloun [a bore of an alsene].* 

In the " Expenses of the Wardrobe of Edward III.," mention 

is made of a very large number of buckles, and a corresponding 

number of pendants, with a smaller number of bars.f 
xx. 
ccciiij. xij. pendentes arg 1 . 
xx # 

ccciiij. xij. boucles arg 1 . 

ccc barres arg 1 . 
The following also is from a schedule of a Wardrobe 
Account in the Tower, 1455 : — 

Mayer's Vocab., p. 150. clxviij bouclis p. garteriis, de arg 



t Archceolog., xxxi. 55 ; and in the 
same document, p. 35 — 

1 xij boucles de arg". 

lxij i>cnd(inntes de org 1 . 
Also <>n p. 34 — 



deaui 4 . 

clxviij pcndayifs p. cisd. gart, de arg'. 
lxij boucles arg 1 deaur', 
lxij pendaunts arg' deaur 1 . 



TAGS OR STRAP ENDS. 127 

It m a wyre hatt garnysshed y e bordour serkyll, and a sterr of sylver 
gylt, lacking a point in y e sterre, w* oute bocle and pendant, duly 
dely v'ed to John Curson, some time Squier for the Kinges body. 

The leather tag or pendant on cloth was equivalent to the 
metallic one on leather ; and hence we read in the Shuttle- 
worth Accounts, 1584 : — 

Seaven yardes of garth webe, and jij longe tages of letter, xiij d . Also, 
j Zona cum thasso de cor. * 

Of the same class as this last, indeed of the same class 
with pendants generally, were the aiglets, which, in Shak- 
speare's time, were known as " points." These were the metallic 
attachments to strings or laces with which the garments were 
" trussed " or " untrussed," that is, tied on or loosed ; indeed, 
small pieces of metal in general were called aglets. They 
appear to have been cheap in 1554, for we read in, the 
accounts of the Smiths' Company of Coventry-]-— 

A gyrdell ij a . ; a dossen of poynts ij d . 
Aiglets are alluded to in 1349, some of which were of silver, 
attached to silk, but the majority were of copper. The term 
survives in Yorkshire and Cumberland as a provincial word, % 
and probably in other districts also. It originally denoted 
the point merely, § though Pynson, quoted by Mr. Way, 
properly remarks that the term was sometimes applied to the 
whole lace. Hence, in all probability, the term " eilet-hole," 
or " oilet-hole," that is, the aglet hole or opening for the lace ; 
though, from similarity of form, it has been derived from the 
French words for needle and a little eye. || 



* lb., p. 30, 32. 

t Queen Jane and Queen Mary, 
p. 125. 



of the points formerly used in dress." 
— Hcdliwell. Sometimes it is " Yiglet, 
the metalled end of a boot-lace." — 



Hunter's Hallamshire Glossary ; \ Dick 



inson. 



Dickinson's Words and Phrases of 
Cumberland. 

§ " Agglot, or an aglet to lace wyth 
alle, acus, aculus. — Prompter ium Par- 
vidorum. Ayglet of a lace or point, 
fer" — Pahgr. "The tag of a lace or 



|| " Holes not larger than would be 
made by the puncture of a needle ;(!) 
perhaps a corruption of the French 
word for needle." — Hunter. " (Eilet 
of ail \ F. an Eye." — Bailey. 



128 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

( lx agulettz de cupro * [here the tags only], 
1 ccxvj aguylettz de cupro. f 

XX 

j ciiij.xij aguletti de serico cum punctis arg 1 ! [here the laces], 
I xxxij aguylettz cum punct de cupro. 
iiij laquei de serico cum punctis arg'§ [here the term is 
avoided]. 



VII— LEATHER ORNAMENTS.— Platb XII. 

The metallic ornaments and attachments to leather were 
very numerous ; at first for protection, then for ornament, 
afterwards for use, — and generally for ornament and use con- 
jointly. At present we notice the smaller ornaments only ; 
for the subject is a large one, and Bosses and Studs will be 
treated of separately. 

1. — Rosettes. 

Besides the more formal bosses and studs, there were nu- 
merous other ornaments of metal attached to leather, which 
do not admit of the same ready classification. For example, 
the earlier illustrations frequently show us a metallic rosette 
at the crossing of two straps, even when the leather is not 
studded. The nature of this may be seen in Meyrick's Plates 
ix., x., xi., in which he represents respectively David Earl of 
Huntingdon, 1120; Alexander I. of Scotland, 1107; and 
Robert Fitzhugh, Earl of Chester, 1141. It is on the same 
principle that the belt of black silk, attached to the " Tutbury 
Horn," has a silver shield with arms at the junction of the 
belt, || But it was not at the junctions merely that such orna- 



* Aivlircolog.,XXXI.,39. 
t lb., p. 45. 

\ Ik. |>. :.: . 



§ lb., p. 22. 

|| Catalogue of the Special Exhi- 
bition at South Kensington, p. 18. 



LEATHER OKXAMKXTS. 



129 



meiits occurred ; it was usual to have straps decorated through- 
out with rosettes, especially round the holes which the acus of 
the buckle penetrated. The sword-belt of Sir Eobert de Sept- 
vans is ornamented with metallic rosettes ; and they may be 
seen on the holes of the garter, given as an illustration under 
the head of Tags. 

.2. — Plates. 

In the reign of Edward III., ornamentation with gold and 
silver, no doubt laid on in thin plates of various forms, was 
common ; and in the time of Henry IV., as well as in that of 
his predecessor, it was necessary to prohibit the gorgeousness 
of apparel. Thus, in 1403, it was enacted " that no person 
should use . . . girdles . . . decorated with silver, nor 
any other trappings of silver, unless possessed of " a certain 
yearly income, or a certain amount of goods and chattels. In 
the reign of Edward II., it had been usual to lay on little 
plates of metal under the rivets of the girdle.* In one of the 
barrows of Denmark, which contained a man and horse, it 
was clear that the bridle had been covered with thin plates of 
silver ; f and in several instances, like that of John Corpe, 
whose brass is in Stoke-Eleming Church, Devon, the belt 
appears to have been ornamented and strengthened by metallic 
plates. A few articles, which evidently served a purpose of 
this kind, were turned up among the Anglo-Saxon graves of 

Kent. One of 
them, which is 
shown here of the 
actual size, was 
found in the grave 
of a man, with a 

Brass Plate— Full Size. ; 

knife, an iron buckle, and a spear. It lay near the head ; and 
had perhaps been a scale of his helmet, or a part of his shoul- 




* Meyrick, I., 173. 

I VVorsass's Primev. Antiq., by 



Thorns, p. 18. 



1:30 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




der-belt. The two little plates of "brass, 
semicircular and triangular respectively, 
were found along with three buckles, one iron, 
one brass, and the third of both metals, and 
also with other pieces of metal which we 
know to have been employed as decorations < 
for leather. Figs. 21 and 22, Plate XII., are of this 
class, though they served somewhat different purposes. The 
former has served as a strap ornament, and the latter as 
an attachment or shank of a buckle ; but both were enamelled, 
both contain representations of animals, and both added to the 
splendour of the appearance. The former represents a dragon- 
like animal, with a trefoil tail, seeking what it may devour ; 
the latter contains a fox apparently, in the attitude which 
heralds call passant reguarclant. Fig. 21 represents an object 
of the thirteenth century.* In a woman's grave at Kingston 
Down, containing a large number of curious things, was found 
a square flat plate of ivory with a hole at each corner, which 
evidently served a purpose of this kind. 




Ivory Ornament. 

Among the ancient Greeks, the mitra or brazen belt covered 
a vital part, and it was lined with leather and padded. Plates 
of it were occasionally a foot long or more ; and at the end, a 
hook on one side locked into a ring on the other. One from 
the island of Eubooa, which is preserved at Paris, is given in 
Smith's Dictionary of Or. and Rom. Antiquities, Ait. Zona. 
The ornamentation of belts with laminae of the precious metals 

* A. W. F 



XII. 




^vj^im 




17 



18 



'e£l(X 



13 



20 




D? HUMES KOYLAKE ANT. 






STRAP ORNAMENTS. 



LEATHER ORNAMENTS. 131 

became very prevalent at Home dining the early years of the 
empire ; and such belts were not unfrequently given as mili- 
tary rewards. Flat portions of a curious bronze belt are 
engraved by M. Troyon, each of which has, among various 
figures chased on it, several dancing-men.* 

3. — Bars. 

In Skelton's " Ancient Armour/' Plate xiv., under the date 

1360, there is given "one of the ornaments which were put 

between two and three inches apart on sword and shield-belts ; 

it is of brass, and was dug up in Oxford." It is two and a 

fourth inches long, narrowing from the middle to both ends. 

There is a hole for a rivet at each end ; and an ornamental 

hole in the protuberance at the centre, where it is half an inch 

broad. It is evidently adapted for a broad strap, or one not 

less than two and a fourth inches in width. An object of a 

somewhat similar kind may be seen here, Plate XIL, fig. 1, 

adapted for a strap of about the same width. This one also 

exhibits a rivet-hole at each extremity, but is there broad and 

floreated. Most probably fig. 11 represents a plainer object 

used for the same purpose. We see perfectly plain rectangular 

bars decorating the belt of Sir Eoger de Trumpington, 1289 ; 

and the sword-belt of Fitzralph, 1320, is ornamented with 

alternate lozenges and bars. There are numerous allusions to 

this practice in our literature : — 

Kichesse a girdle had upon, 

The bokell of it was of ston ; 
***** 

The barres were of gold full fine, 

Upon a tissue of sattine, 

Full heavie, great, and nothing light, 

In everiche was a besaunt wight, f 
It would appear from this that the besaunts were laid on, 
probably like the spangles recently in use, in the intervals of 
the bars ; they were not inserted, as in the case of studs, 

* Habitations Lacustres, PI. xvii., I f Chaucer, "Itomannt of the Rose " 



PART II. — the obj: 



which were attached to the stronger material, leather. Chaucer 
also describes his Sergeant-of-law as follows :— 

Every statute coude he plaine by rote ; 

He rode but homely in a medlee cote, 

Girt with a seint * of silk with barres smale ; 

Of his array, tell I no hanger tale. 

In the "Millere's Tale," the Wife of Bath is represented as 
mrded in a somewhat similar manner — 

" A seint she wered, barred, all of silk." 

The American Indians formerly, and indeed they still do 
so, made belts of the hollow bones of deer, birds, &c. These 
were strung and tied longitudinally round the body, each 
piece being two or three inches in length. f But the most 
curious belt with bars is that which was discovered on " the 
Skeleton in Armour," near the Fall Eiver in Massachusetts, 
on the 26th of April, 1831. This consisted of numerous pa- 
rallel tubes of brass, about four inches long, and about the 
thickness of an ordinary lead pencil, each of which surrounded 
a tube of reed. They were laid side by side, and fastened to 
two parallel thongs which passed round the body. J The facts 
are unusually interesting, as it is almost universally believed 
that the remains are those of one of the ante-Columbian dis- 
coverers of America, who perished there perhaps in the 
eleventh century. Berzelius has decided that the brass is of 
European manufacture, and it is not modern. 

We learn also from John de Garlande, in the thirteenth 
century, that the corigiarius or " gurdeler," that is to say, the 
belt-maker, had zones which were not only bene membratas 
(" ystodyd "), but also stipata arr/ento, or barred with silver. 
Indeed, the metal bars seem to have been purchased some- 
times along with the buckles for straps ; for we road, in connec- 
tion with the history of the Order of the Garter, that on the 



1 < linctore or girdle, 
t Schoolcraft) I., 104. 
t [b. I., 128, (quoting Gibbe's re- 
tries;) Rafn'a Antiquitatea Ameri- 



cans, p, 6; Memoiresdes Anttyuaires 

dii Nord, (1840-44,) p. 104; Rafn's 
Remarks on the Letters of Webb and 
Smith, ib.) p.] 19 ; Longfellow's Poems. 



LEATHER ORNAMENTS. 



133 



13tli of November, 1348, "thirty buckles, sixty mordants or 
tongues, and sixty bars, were bought and given by the Prince 
of Wales to Sir John Chandos, for his robes of the Prince's 
livery." * And again, " sixty buckles, sixty mordants, and six 
bars were bought and given to the Knights of his Society for 
the hastiludes at Windsor." f In the brass of Sir Eobert de 
Bures, 1302, his sword-belt appears to have a rosette sur- 
rounding each hole for the tongue of the buckle, and between - 
every two such holes an ornamental cross-bar.^ 




Leather Belt, Stamped and Perforated— with Bar, 



The annexed figure represents a portion of a belt, stamped 
and perforated ; and attached to it is a small bar of brass, the 
exact use of which it is difficult to assign. Perhaps it was for 
the purpose of suspending some of the articles which hung 
from the girdle, as the purse, the rosary, the knife, or the 
dagger. This was found at Beakesbourne in 1773, and is here 
represented as of the actual size.§ A similar portion was' 



* xxx bokeles & lx mordants & lx 
barr' emp. eod. die p' dnm dflo Joh' i 
Chaundos p' rob. suis de. lib. dfli. 

t lx bokeles & lx mordants & vi. 
barr' emp. eod. die dant. milit. de Soc' 
sua p' hastilud. de Wyndesor. — Ar- 
cbjeolog., XXXI. 124, 160. 

X Frontispiece to Boutell's Monu- 
mental Brasses. 

§ ;( A piece very similar in pattern 



was found at Chartham, by Dr. Mor- 
timer, who distinctly says it had been 
fastened with a buckle, which he de- 
scribes and gives a drawing of. Mr. 
Faussett also indiciites three other 
examples. The pattern is not unlike 
that of some of the Roman sandals 
found in London ; and the mode of 
punching the leather appears to have 
been the same as was used in the 



134 PAST II. — THE OBJECTS 

supposed to "be a knife-sheath, as it was found doubled.* 

4. — Small Sections. 
In Strati's " Popular Saxon Antiquities/' we find a shoulder- 
strap uniting the back metallic plate with the breast-plate in 
front ; no doubt for the joint purpose of ornament and security. 
It is covered with little bars of metal, each of which is nearly 
as long as the leather is broad ; f and, if we turn to Meyrick 
and Skelton, J we find the same about the middle and end of 
the seventeenth century, namely, in 1645 and 1680. In both 
instances, the metallic pieces are continued only on that part 
of the strap which was not intended to lie beneath any portion 
of the armour. A large number of small pieces of metal exist 
in the present collection, which must obviously have served a 
similar purpose. One object of this kind was 
found at Beakesbourne in Kent, along with the 
smau ornament, circular and triangular plates of brass already 
shown. Most of the objects of this kind are like little sections 
of a split reed. 

The small pieces of metal, figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 10, are 
objects of this class, found sometimes with portions of leather 
adhering. In many instances, as in 2 and 4, the rivets still 
remain ; and, from the uniformity of the objects, it is clear that 
they were used in sets. In the present instance, however, 
forms differing as widely as possible have been selected 
designedly. They are different in length, in breadth, and in 
ornamentation. Some, like fig. 4, may have reached across a 
nai row strap, while others may have decorated only its median 
line ; some may have been placed close side by side, and others 
at intervals more or less wide. They are all convex above and 
concave below; and they appear to have been whole through- 
ornamental work of the Homan san- I Jnv. Sepal., p. 152. 
dais, and in the shoes of the middle * Invent. Sepul.. p. 11. 
ages.— See " Illustrated Catalogue of f Vol. III., Plate xxi. 
London Antiquities," Plates ix., xii., t Plate xli. — xliii. 
and xiii. A'u/e by Mr. /\<><irh Smith. 



LEATHER ORNAMENTS. 135 

out, such openings as those in 3 or 4 being attributable to 
wear and tear. Figs. 17 and 18 serve to indicate the mode of 
their, use, and how objects like 12 and 13 might be applied. 
They also show how the pendant and buckle-shank — the lat- 
ter often a separate plate — appeared when in use. 

Four others appear to have served as similar ornaments, 
but they are slightly different in detail. These are, first, figs. 
8 and 9, and, second, 12 and 13. The two former differ from 
the preceding only by being protuberant or boss-like in- the 
middle. One of them contains a circular opening in this part, 
but that may have been caused by the protuberance wearing 
down, as in the case of bosses which ornamented the covers of 
books. In the other two, the protuberance occupies the whole 
length, except the spaces for the rivets, and is striated with 
parallel lines, which may be described as horizontal in the one 
case, and perpendicular in the other. 

5. — Miscellaneous Ornaments. 
[a] A curious style of ornamentation was that of inserting 
small shields at intervals, as on the sword-scabbard. This 
is apparent on the Trumpington brass, where there are four 
such shields, each containing the arms of the wearer ; the 
lowest, or that nearest the chape of the scabbard, being the 
smallest. Several small shields, of the " heater-shape " as 
it is called, exist among these antiquities, one containing 
an armorial device ; and they would all appear to have 
been used as a kind of special studs. In a brass at Trotton 
Church, Sussex, that of Margaret, Lady de Camoys, nine 
small shields of arms were attached to the front of the tunic, 
some of which have lately been abstracted,* Instances of 
their occurrence are rare in English monuments ; but the 
four or five examples Which exist, serve to show the former 
prevalence of a custom. Such shields were used in medi- 
aeval times by the retainers of the nobility .+ 

* Bontell's " Brasses," p. 81. | t C. R. S. 



136 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS 



[b] The shell-like objects engraved here, figures 14, 15, and' 16, 
appear to have been, like those shields, a compromise be- 
tween the stud and the leather ornament generally. Each 
of them has been attached to the leather by one rivet, which 
in 16 still remains. It has still attached to it part of the 
leather, and the little metal washer outside of that, next to 
the end of the rivet. In the other two, though the form is 
shell-like, the ornamentation is by diagonal and intersect- 
ing lines. 

figures 17 and 18, represent the extremities of an imaginary 
strap. To the former the buckle is attached, and a thin 
plate of metal answering to the " shank " or " attachment ; " 
but, as we have seen, in some cases it was separate, and 
merely a leather ornament. To the other end is affixed the 
tag or pendant, and both fragments exhibit the small cross- 
bar ornaments, with one like 13, attached suggestively inter- 
mediately and lengthwise. 

[c] Figures 19 and 20 served the same general purpose. The 
former is probably a leather ornament only, broken off at 
(me of its rivet-holes. It is impressed with a zig-zag or 
crank like pattern, which is one of very early occurrence.* 
Figure 20 may have been the shank of a buckle ; but if so, 
it is of a peculiar form, and somewhat ill-adapted for the 
play of the tongue. Whatever special purpose it served, 
it was evidently attached to the end of a strap of leather. 

The precise use of the annexed object is not known, 
but in all probability it was a leather ornament like 
19 or 20. Perhaps we may place beside this two 
small pieces of silver, which are supposed to have 
decorated the ex- 
tremities of a gir* 
die or band. There 
both leather 





snppoKci Lea- W . K 
Hi. i Ornament. " <to 



Silver Plate* 

and linen adhering to the under 



part "f them when they were discovered, and they were 



* C R. s. 



LEATHER OBNAMENT& 137 

. attaclied by silver rivets. They were found at Charthani 
Down, in Kent. 

[d] Fig. 25 contains a more graceful animal than that of 21 or 
22, and probably the metal served only for a strap-ornament; 
it appears to have been- one of a series of such ornaments. 
Fig. 24, stamped out of the metal, possesses the quality of 
not being the likeness of any known creature ; but evidently 
it was designed to be suggestive. The eye-hole served for 
one rivet, the other was where the hinder legs are broken 
off. It is of the fifteenth or sixteenth- century* 

Fig. 23 constitutes a class by itself. It may possibly have 
served the purpose of a pierced tag, like fig. 11-, Plate XL, 
or it may have been merely a leather ornament of a some- 
what rustic pattern. It has been placed here on the latter 
supposition. It is said to be semi-Celtic. 

[e] The well-known brass of Sir John D'Abernon, 1277, has 
the guige or shield-strap ornamented with roses and fylfont 
crosses alternately ; and that of Sir Eobert de Septvans, 
1306, has a beautifully decorated sword-belt and scabbard. 
In some instances the belt was jewelled, as in that of Keynes 
of Dodford,f temp. Henry VI. This was not unfrequently 

' the case with ecclesiastics, though it is difficult to under- 
stand from illustrations when the mere orphrey J work or 
embroidery by the needle is meant, and when precious stones. 
In 1858, I observed on the stone effigies at Iona, that all 
such portions stood in high relief, shewing that they repre- 
sented the setting of stones. 
[/] The Princess Charlotte, daughter of our King George IV., 
had the headstall and reins of her palfrey decorated with 
cowrie shells. The back of each was rubbed flat, and the 
valves being upward, they were laid side by side in parallel 
rows across the strap. The bridle is still preserved in this 
neighbourhood. 

* C. B. S. I Northamptonshire." 

t Hudson's ; ' Mon. Brasses of I X Aurum rhnjyianum. 




l;"58 PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 

[(/] The last illustration which I shall give, is 
a little piece of brass, which was useful as 
well as ornamental. It was the " keeper " 
of an Anglo-Saxon strap, equivalent to Keep B r a f s * tiap " 
the little ring of leather which holds down the loose end of 
a modern strap, and which sometimes is fixed in position, 
at other times slides along. When found, it held a portion 
of the leather " in its bite." * 

Of the small objects like split reeds, Mr. Mayer's collection 
contains 31 examples, Mr. Smith's 67, and my own 57 ; of 
those broad in the middle, like 8, 9, 12 or 13, Mr. Mayer's has 
8, Mr. Smith's 9, and my own 2. Of the shell-like patterns 
the numbers are, Mr. Mayer's 4, Mr. Smith's 2, and my own 11, 
(one of which is lead ;) and of miscellaneous ornaments, Mr. 
Mayer has 21, Mr. Smith 12, and myself 2. Of the little 
plates containing animals, all four are engraved. There are 8 
little shields of the kind mentioned in paragraph [a], all of 
lead, and all in Mr. Mayer's collection. 

The twenty-one objects engraved are all of brass. Of these, 
two belong to Mr. Smith, 1 and 22 ; five to Mr. Mayer, 11, 12, 
23, 26, and 25 ; and fourteen to myself, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 
13, 14, 15, 19 and 21. 



VIII.— BOSSES AND STUDS.— Plate XIII. 

1. Form, &c. — The terms boss and stud are frequently used 
as identical in meaning ; but, when a distinction is made, the 
former is supposed to refer to objects somewhat larger in 
size. The examples given on Plate XIII. show how varied 
they were in form; e. g., wheel-shaped, circular, cruciform, 
square; as well as plain, ornamented, flat, in relief, dotted, 
with open work, &c. In like manner, those which we find 
represented in ancient sculptures and paintings were no less 
varied in appearance. Thus, in a sculptured effigy in Bam- 

* iuv. Sepal., p. i7o. 



BOSSES AND STUDS. 



139 



berg Cathedral, 1370,* the girdle is ornamented with quatre- 
foil studs, and those of nearly the same form occur on the 
brass of Sir Thomas Cheyne, 1368.| Square studs are more 
common, as on the brass of Nicholas Lord Bumell, 1382 ; J 
and sometimes they are placed diagonally, or lozenge- wise, as 
on that of Lord Berkeley, 1417. § Others again are round, as 
on the girdle of Sir Eobert Swynborne, 1391 ; and each stud, 
as well as the large round clasp in front, bears the letter S. 
An unusual example is found on the brass of Sir Miles 
Stapelton, 1365, where the studs or metal plates on the belt 
are square or rectangular, while the fastening and pendant are 
circular. || In an example of the thirteenth century, the studs 
on the belt, as well as on the sword scabbard, are ovaL^f 

2. Material. — The material consisted of bronze^ brass, iron, 
brass or other metal gilt, silver, and even gold. There is also 
allusion, in the Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, to a " stude of 
amber." It is unnecessary to refer to the more common 
examples ; but one of brass gilt, and bearing the arms of the 
Black Prince, is mentioned in Mr. Boach Smith's Catalogue of 
London Antiquities. ** Piers Plowman also records that two 
priests " hath a girdle of silver, and a basilard [dagger] 
decorated with gilt studs." In the inventory of the goods of 
Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, 1536, occurs this entry : — 

Item, a littill Mule, with a harnes of black velwet, with studdes of 
gilt-wourke, and fote-clothe of velwet. ft 

Meyrick quotes \\ the following from Stephen de la Fontaine, 
1352 :— 

For causing to be forged the furniture of a basinet, that is to say, 
thirty- five little loops, twelve little bosses for the forehead part, all of 
standard gold, and for causing to be forged the leather 



* Hefner's Costume du Moyen Age 
Chretien. 

f At Drayton Beauchamp, Rucks ; 
Bontell, p. 53. 

X Ibid, 54. 

§ Ibid, 57. 



|| In Ingham Church, Norfolk ; Cot- 
man. 
1 Strutt's Dress and Costume, PI. lxv. 
** P. 153. 

tt Camden Miscel., Vol. III. 
XX Ancient Armour, Vol. II. p. 12. 



140 PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 

strap for making fast the basinet, the nails of which are headed with 
bosses, and little crosses enamelled with the arms of France. 

3. Hoiv worn. — There were particular portions of the equip- 
ment of both men and horses with which studs were specially 
connected. Thus, the belt, the bawdrick, the guige, and sword- 
scabbard of the knight, were often highly decorated ; and the 
headstall and bridle-reins, as well as the breast and croupe- 
straps of the horse. Studs were also used for ornamenting 
the armour, and even the gloves. 

No part of the dress was prepared with greater elegance 
and care than the belt. It was always conspicuous, it covered 
and protected a vital part, and it formed a basis for the 
attachment of small objects, such as the dagger. It was 
often so completely covered with metal, or metallic in its 
appearance, that it was said to be of brass, silver, or gold. 
We have reason to believe that, among the ancients, studded 
belts were not unknown. They are alluded to by Homer, and 
they are shown in Assyrian paintings and sculptures.* The 
bulla, which was so called from its resemblance to a bubble 
on the water, is alluded to in the " aurea bullis cingula," of 
Yirgil.f Sometimes these studs were conical-headed, and pro- 
jected like little bells; hence " bullis asper balteus." A Roman 
charioteer appears encircled with a succession of belts, one 
of which is studded. J And generally, on the representation of 
Scythian and Roman belts, we trace § the existence of *uc\i 
objects. In the Prophecy of Capys || studded and gemmed belts 
are represented as forming part of a Roman triumph : — • 

The helmets gay with plumage 

Torn from the pheasants' wings, 
The belts set thick with starry gems 

That shone on Indian kiu^s. 



• Layard's Illustrations, 2nd scries, Mosayco, &c, Madrid, i'ol. 1S00. 
PI. v., vi., xx. § Moyrick, PI. xiii. 

t -En. U., 859 \ xii., 942. || Maeaulav's Lays of AnctOdt 

X Description de in Parimento, cmi Rome. 



BOSSES AXI) STUDS. 



141 



In the Hastings brass, Elsing Church, Norfolk, the sword-belt, 
is beautifully studded.* 

In the Three Early English Metrical Romances, edited by 
Dr. Eobson, of Warrington, for the Camden Society, from a 
MS. in the possession of J. Ireland Blackburne, Esq., of Hale, 
the dress of a lady is thus described : — 

Hir gide that was glorious was of a gresse-greene ; 

Her belte was of blenket, with briddus full bold, 

Beten with besandus, bocult ful bene, f 

In a dress of the fourteenth century, a belt has two rows of 
studs, like broad buttons, along its outer margins, J while 
another is studded in the centre. § In the belt of a person of 
distinction of the fifteenth century, the studs occur in sets of 
three on the shoulder-belt, and the buttons in clusters of three 
down the front of the robe. || A belt of the early part of this 
century was preserved in Mr. Eoach Smith's collection, stamped 
in leather, with circlets containing the SS. of Henry IV., and 
ornamented also with metal bosses. It was supposed that 
girdles of this kind were manufactured at Cadiz. IF In the 
monumental slab of Johan Graaf v. Wertheim, 1407, the 
studs on the hip-belt are very prominent, and seem like 
large knobs of metal connected by intervening links.** Mr. 
Planche f f gives an engraving of a lady from a manuscript in 
the Harleian collection. She wears a hip-belt, apparently 
studded, from which a gypciere or purse is pendent. Another 
example is given of a lady with a studded belt, in Strutt, 
Plate cxix.; and in Meyrick may be seen several belts 
covered with bosses or studs. John de Garlande,tt in the 
nning of • the thirteenth century, describes the girdle- 



* Carter's Ancient Sculpture and 
Painting, and Cotman's Brasses. 

+ Her gown that was glorious was 
of a grass- green colour; her belt was 
of white stuff ornamented with birds ; 
inlaid with besaunts (or round pieces 
of metal, like the coins of Byzantium), 
and appropriately buckled. 



X Strutt'sDressandHabits,Pl.lxxvi. 
§ lb., PI. lxxxr. 
|| lb., PI. cix. 

% Fairholt's Costume, p. 508. 
** Boutell, p. 193, from Hefner's 
Costume du Moyen Age Chretien. 
ft History of British Costume, p. 2 10. 
XX Mayer's Vocab., p. 123. 



142 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



makers of his time as having before them girdles of white, 
black, and red, well studded and barred. 

In Shaw's Dresses and Decorations of the Middle Ages* 
Clovis L, about 1100, is represented with a studded belt; and 
Kichard I. of England is similarly represented in one of 
Meyrick's plates, f Sir Eobert de Bures, 1302, in Acton 
Church, Suffolk, has a studded waist-belt. The belt of Edward 
II., on the screen of York Minster, is covered with small studs 




Studded Belt on the Black Prince. 

which touch each other; J and the effigy of Gunthor, Kino of 
the Romans, executed 1340, exhibits, with other peculiarities, 



* Shaw. Vol. I. 
fPLxiii. in Vol I. 



X Carter's Ancient Sculpture and 
Painting, 1780, Vol. II. 



BOSSES AND STUDS. 



143 



that of an elegantly studded belt* About the year 1440, 
King John is represented with a splendidly studded belt;f 
and both the sword-belt and hip-belt of Sir Humphrey 
Stafford, 1450, were similarly ornamented. ' In the Sweten- 
ham brass of the fifteenth century, the breast-plate is covered 
diagonally by a studded sword-belt ;J and in that of Malony 
of Woodford there is a very curious studded sword-belt, { as 
well as studded armour. In the beautiful illustration of the 
Garter of the fourteenth century, already given under the 
head of " Tags or Strap-Ends," it will be observed that the 
baldrick or hip-belt of the Black Prince is studded, though 
the two studs in front appear to have dropped out. The same 
appearance is presented by the rainbow on which the Deity 
is sitting, in conformity with conventional usage. § 

In the early part of the seventeenth century, the practice 
still continued; as Lord William Howard of Naworth was 
denominated " Belted Will." 

His Bilboa blade, by Marchmen felt, 

Hung io a broad and studded belt ; 

Hence in rude phrase, the Borderers still 

Culled noble Howard "Belted Will." |[ 
In a poem of the close of the century, the hair of a youth is 
represented as falling down to his girdle-stud. 

Why should thy sweete love-locke hang dangling downe, 
Kissing thy girdle-stud with falling pride ? IF 

In Barneck Church, Northamptonshire, one of several carved 
statues, temp. Henry VI., Henry VII., represents a person, 
apparently an ecclesiastic, with an elegantly studded belt. ** 

Studs on the guige, or on the shoulder-belt, may be seen 
on the D'Aubernon, Northwode, and various other brasses. 



* Hefner, Costume du Moyen Age 
Chretien. 

t Shaw's Dresses and Decorations 
of the Middle Ages, Vol. II. 

% Hudson's Monumental Brasses of 
Northamptonshire. 

§ The heaven is my throne, and the 



earth is my footstool. — Isa. lxvi. I 
Acts vii. 49. 

|| Lay of the Last Minstrel, v. 16. 

f Barnfield's Affectionate Shep- 
herd, 1594. 

** Carter, Vol. I. 



U-4 



JPAKT II. — HIE OBJ£< T& 



They are also alluded to by Drayton in the Polyolbion, when 
describing Eobin Hood and similar outlaws : — 

Their bauldricks set with studs, athwart their shoulder-3 cast, 
To which, under their arms, their sheafs were buckled fast, 
A short sword at their belt, a buckler scarce a span, 
Who struck below the knee not counted then a man. 
A few additional facts respecting studs, in human decora- 
tions, may be given as follows : — In the Pilgrim's signs of 
pewter, described by the Eev. Thomas Hugo, the decorations 
upon the episcopal dress of St. Thomas and others exhibit 
numerous studs,* and the following quotation from the 
description of the Horse Armoury, tem/p. Charles I.,f shows 
the frequency of their occurrence : — 

One guilte, graven, and damasked armor of the Hinges, for the feild 
compleate, the whole armor laid with bosses of gould, 6 bosses only 
remaynyng on the coller, and all the rest either lost or taken from the 
coller and armor, in a chest. 

In Meyrick and Skelton's Armour, Plate xvi., is represented 
the " jazerine " jacket, " which was coated over with red Genoa 
velvet, and ornamented with brass studs." In the Hastings 
brass at Elsing Church, Norfolk, the sword-belt is beautifully 
studded, t On the effigy of the Black Prince, in Canterbury 
Cathedral, there are studs in his gauntlets ; § and when the 
fingers of the steel gloves were separated, each finger || was 
covered with studs. If 

The decorations of the horse furniture were usually in front, 
as on the headstall and reins ; but other parts of the equip- 
ment exhibited the same taste and tendency. Studded straps, 
in the equipment of horses, were in use among the Persians, 
as we see that in the beautiful and well-known Mosaic at 
Pompeii, the headstalls of the horses, on the side of Darius, 
1 >eing all set thick with studs. The ph&l&rm of the Lai ins wore 



* Archacolog. XXX VIII., 134. 

I- [bid, XXXVII., 487. 

+ Soc Carter, Vol. L, and Cot man. 

\ Labarte's Handbook] ]>• 868, 
II Stothart, quoted by Fairholt, 



*|[ For further information on the 
subject of belts, see Transactions of 
the Historic Society of Lancashire 
ami Cheshire, XIV.. p. 12'.>. 



BOSSES AND STUDS. 145 

well known ; and both the word and its meaning had previously 
been in use among the Greeks. In several of the sculptures 
from Nineveh, studded harness appears on the horses ;* and 
in one case the breeching seems to be of embossed leather, 
while the head straps are studded.f In another example the 
head-stall is studded, and the bridle reins are of rope. J The 
edition of the Canterbury Tales of Chaucer, edited by Mr. 
Wright for the Percy Society, has prefixed to it an engraving of 
the pilgrims on their journey to Canterbury, from an ancient 
illumination in the British Museum. § The bridles and straps 
are all decorated with studs. In the Horse Armoury, temp. 
Charles L, the bridle was represented as studded with bosses, 
and white gilt nails, with which also the harness was set. || 

Upon another horse, one harnesse for the tilte, parcell guilte and 

graven, a breeche of Steele, with a base of black velvett, 

and bridle with bosses. 

Upon one other horse, one harnesse for the tilte and feild, parcell 
graven, and sett with white and guilte nayl. 

In certain continental pictures, the bridles and horse-straps 
are all ornamented with studs ;^[ and in a representation of 
Charles II. as St. George, there are studs on the horse's breast- 
belt, headstall, and bridle.** Francis I. of France is represent- 
ed with gold studs in red velvet on the bridle of his horse, ft 
In the British Museum, there are numerous straps beautifully 
studded, from the collection formerly in the possession of Mr* 
Koach Smith ; and, in the horse harness exhibited at the 
International Exhibition, there were modern specimens from 
Sweden and Finland. Dr. Charlton, of Newcastle-on-Tyne, 
possesses a head-stall from Telemarkin, in Norway, which is 
covered by small bead-like brass studs, some cruciform in 



* Layard's Illustrations, PI. xiv., 
xxvi. 

f Ibid., PI. xxviii. 

% Ibid., PI. xlvii., (second series.) 

§ Reg. 18. D. ii. 



|| Archajolog., XXXVIL, 486. 
^f Transactions of the Society of 
Antiquaries of Zurich, 1847. 
** Labarte, p. 46. 
ft Shaw's Dresses, &c. Vol. II. 



146 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



their arrangement and shape. The custom is said to have 
existed in the locality for at least two centuries. 

There are occasional allusions in our older literature to 
some of the articles noticed, and their preparation. Thus, in 
the Account of the Expenses of John of Brabant, and Thomas 
and Henry of Lancaster, 1292-3,* mention is made of " three 
pair of studs or bosses for horse gear ; " and in the Collectanea 
Antiqua, Vol. II., among the Koinan remains at Mayence, are 
mentioned studs on the horse trappings. 

4. General Remarks. — Studs were used, how T ever, for many 
other purposes ; for example, in ancient bookbinding. There 
were usually five large bosses or studs on the side which lay 
on the table ; viz., four at the corners and one in the centre. 
In Scott's Antiquarian Gleanings \ in the North of England, 
he mentions a curious Norman book-cover, in the library of 
Durham Cathedral, which is thus ornamented. But specimens 
are common. J He also mentions an aumbry in Carlisle 
Cathedral, of date about 1490, which had been covered with 
red \ elvet, with studs or small nails in the clasping iron-work, g 
The hemispherical brass-headed nails which decorated the 
chairs in the parlours of our grandmothers, were a relic of 
tin's style of ornamentation; and, after an interval, it is re- 
appearing in the larger square brass studs which adorn 
modern upholstery. Studs are also reappearing in the belts 
of ladies, and in the decorations of the sides and extremities 
of gowns ; thus affording an illustration of the principle, that 
fashion moves in limited cycles, and that it returns to types 
of natural elegance. Were it not for machinery superseding 
manual labour, the old occupation of " Bossettiex," or boss- 
maker,! mentioned by our old lexicographers, might reappear. 



• Camden MiteeU*, II.. is. 
•I I'l. It, 

or baUions, web as arc 
1 i'"- outiidea of Booke?, Um- 
I ming'i Di< I . I 



§ PI. xxxii. 

|| "Bosscttier, a bossc-maker, a 
stud-maker." — ('engrave 1611. "A 
i-raaker, bossetier." — Sherwood, 
L650. 



BOSSES AND STUDS. 



147 



It was not unusual for studs to ha^e loops behind,* so as to 
admit of their being fastened to leather or cloth ; some had 
eyes like buttons,! and such are not unfrequently figured in 
archaeological treatises. In the Anglo-Saxon graves at Stod- 
marsh, in Kent, two of this kind were found ; and also in the 
Eev. Bryan . Faussett's diggings, as shown in the plates of 
Inventorium SepulcJwale.'l Occasionally studs were orna- 
mented, as in a painting of Holbein in the Louvre. Each stud 
in the ornamented belt is a lion's head with a ring in its 
mouth, from which something is pendent. § 

5. Bosses and Studs on Shields. — The earliest shields were 
made of wicker-work, covered with skin or thin metallic 
plates, and sometimes of two boards laid together. One is 
represented by "Worsase of wood, covered with ornamental 
straps of iron attached by rivets. [| The boss of a shield, or 
centre knob, was hollo w,^[ as if intended for the hand; and in 
some instances it appears to have been hemispherical.** The 
shield of the Emperor Theodosius, copied from a gold medal, f f 
appears with studs round its margin, so that they must have 
been used for the purposes of strength and security in ancient 
times, as well as by people of primitive habits in modern. 
In some of the Assyrian shields, the boss or central stud is 
adorned with a lion's head ; JJ and it would appear from Job's 
expression, "the thick bosses of his bucklers," §§ that this part 
was not always hollow, but sometimes of increased thickness. 
At Brighthampton, Oxon, two iron studs were found on each 
side of the umbo of a shield in a grave ; they appear to have 
fastened the handle to the original wood, which was of ash. || || 
In similar diggings, as might have been expected, the remains 
of shields were found only in the graves of men.^[ The 



* Proceedings of the Arch. Insti- 
tute, York, 1856. 
f Ibid. 

X PI. xv., fig. 14. 
§ Shaw, vol. II. 
|| Afbildninger, p. 125. 
^[ Planche. p. 9. 



** Inventorium Sep., PI. xv., fig, 14. 
ft "Descripcion de un Pavimento 
en Mosayco." 

XX Layard's Illustrations, PI. xxvii. 
§§ Job xv. 2G. 

IHI Arehaeol. XXXVIL, 895. 
If Ibid., XXXVIII.. 331. 



148 



TART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




samples show the forms which the umbo or boss of 
assumed; here the one is rudely hemi- 
spherical, or rather like a dish- 
r, and the other conical. 
re visible on the 
y which each of them 
was attached to the wood; and 
ral studs were found with 
heads an inch and a-half broad, 
by which they had been fastened to the wood. 

The appearance which the studs presented externally may 
u from the adjoining illustration. It represents a piece 
of brass six inches in diameter; and, though it is flat, it is 
Bupposed to have been placed in the centre of a shield, like 
an umbo. It contains five studs, the central one larger than 
others, with an ornamented margin. Each of the studs 
had been riveted, and was about half an inch long; that is to 



Umboes of Shields. 




• PtateottflhltU, Hnrfri,to D Down. 



BOSSES AND STUDS. 



149 



say, the wood for the shield, to which this plate of brass was 
attached, was half an inch thick. Some of the wood, in a 
rotten state, adhered to the points of the studs. 

Other examples show the internal appearance of some of 
these studs, both when they came out clean, and when with 
wood attached; when whole, and when broken. The annexed 
stud is one of three, iron, and with a convex head nearly two 
inches broad. The wood appears to have been half an inch 
thick as usual, and a portion of it adheres to the " strig " or 
nail part. Along with this and two others 
of the same kind, were found four smaller 
ones with flat heads, which, from their posi- 
tion, no doubt served to unite the umbo to 
the wood, so that the larger ones may have 
served to strengthen and decorate the wooden 
margin. The smaller ones were also of iron. 
The studs were sometimes of brass, as two of that material 




Iron Stud with wood 
adhering, Kent. 




graves of Kent, with 
adhering. One had been 
and lost a portion of its 
but the other remained 
plate of metal at its 



Flat-headed iron . . 

Its length was stud - seven-eighths ot an inch. 



were also found in the 

part of the broken wood 

injured in detaching it, 

acus or " strig " or nail ; 

complete, with a little 

point. 

In one case the handle of the shield 
was found, and it may be interesting to 
see it, though it does not strictly belong 
to our present subject. It was of iron, 

verv plain, /~\ — , 

about five in- vj^/ ™ ■ -^ 

Brass Studs, Kingston Down. dies long, and Iron Shield-handle. 

half an inch broad, and it bears a remarkably close resemblance 
in form to the plain strap ornament shown, Plate XII. fig. 
11. Sometimes a large stud was inserted in the centre of the 
umbo, as at the top of the cone, or in the peak of the hemi- 
sphere, given in the first of these illustrations. The broad 





for 0' muWes hoylake *nt 



BOSSES & STUDS. 



SPINDLE WHORLS. 151 

studded with brass or iron, was a necessary part of a High- 
lander's equipment. In charging regular troops he received 
the thrust of the bayonet in this buckler, twisted it aside, and 
used the broadsword against the encumbered soldier." The 
studded buckler was formerly much in use among the London 
apprentices, and it was used by the front rank of the clans in 
1745. It appears to have been employed in Flanders by the 
42nd regiment in 1747,* but generally it was disused after 1745. 

The bosses and studs in this collection are 124 in number ; 
viz., 1 silver, 83 brass, and 40 lead. Of these again, 56 are in 
Mr. Smith's possession, 42 in Mr. Mayer's, and 26 in my own. 
A peculiar stud is engraved among the miscellaneous objects 
in metal, Plate XXIX., fig. 6. Apparently there has been a ring 
with ornamental cross ridges ; and at one part of the circum- 
ference there is a metallic rosette laid on, beneath which is an 
eye like that of a large button, to pass through the metal or. 
leather or cloth, and be caught. Perhaps the circle was 
always incomplete as we see it, and the object may have 
been used for decorating the cap of an Elizabethan soldier. 
It is of brass. 

Of the 23 which are engraved (there is no fig. 12) fig. 8 is 
silver, and figs. 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, lead. All the others are 
brass. Four are from Mr. Smith's collection, 4, 18, 20/23; 
five from my own, 3, 7, 8, 9, 16 ; and all the rest from Mr. 
Mayer's. Fig. 17 is Romano-British, f and is supposed to be 
part of a curved fibula,^ like figs. 8 and 10, Plate III. It con- 
tains some remains of enamel in four yellow points. 



IX.— SPINDLE WHORLS.— Plate XIY. 

1. General Remarks. When the distaff was in use, as it is 
still on the continent, and before the introduction of the 
spinning-wheel, (which has already become an object of 

* Grose's Military Antiquities, I., I t A. W. F. 
164. Quo. Scott. I % C. R. S. 



152 



TART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




From Beakesbourne. 



antiquity,) the spindle and its whorl or whirl* were common 
domestic implements. "When there was no whirl on the 
spindle, so that the roll of yarn could be drawn from off it, it 
was called a slipper-spindle, f But 
what is called the " wharrow-spindle," 
or whorle-spindle, is thus described :J — 
" This differeth from those preceding in ; 
respect of the crook above, and of the 
wharrow imposed on the lower part 
thereof. This sort of spindles women do use most commonly 
to spin withal, not at the torn (large wheel) as the former, but 
at a distaff put under their girdle, so as they often spin there- 
with going. § The round ball at the lower end serveth to the 
fast twisting of the thread, and is called a wharrow." 

In Ministers Cosmographia, pp. 557 and 581, there is a 
curious woodcut, representing an old man and woman spin- 
ning with the distaff in the open air, while a child is rolling 
the thread on a primitive reel. The whorl is distinctly shown 
on both spindles. In Betzch's illustrations to Schiller's Lay 
of the Bell, the time of which is assumed to be mediaeval, the 
whorl is attached to the spindle, and the distaff is fixed in a 
stool. In Mr. Eoach Smith's collection of London antiquities, || 
there were several of these implements, one of which was found 
attached to the spindle. In the Shuttletvorth Accounts, at 
November, 1569, it is mentioned that in buying some " Ieries " 
[Irish] " yarne," he pays for " spindles and wherls, ij' 1 ." 

A Roman spindle-whorl was discovered at Caerwent, ^[ con- 
sisting of a disc of red ware, and in the Anglo-Saxon graves 



* The terms -whorl and whirl are 
ased indiscriminately] both of which 
differ considerably in form from 
(iwillim's term. It may be interesting 
to know the forms in which it appeared 
in old writings. In an Anglo-Saxon 
lulary of the eleventh century, 

^responding Latin and Saxon 
words are M verberatnrom fAtotrt^" 

\- Vocabtdariet, 990 j and in 



the Pictorial Vocabulary of the 
fifteenth century, it is * hoc vertebrum, 
Angl. a aivoroiL-yllc" Ibid., 269. 

t Gwillim's Book of Heraldry, 
p. 299. 

J Ibid., p. 300. 

§ That is, while moving about. 

|| Catalogue of London Antiq. p. 70. 

% Archied., XXXVI., 430. 



XIV. 




P D* HUMES HCYLAKE ANT 



J.E WORRALL.LITH: 



SPINDLE WHORLS. 



SPINDLE WHORLS. 



153 





Spindelstein, clay. 



very many have been found. One 
at Long Wittenham in Berks/* of 
dark green glass, was in a woman's 
grave ; and another f is not de- 
scribed. A third, like one found 

Earthenware, slightly damaged. ^ Brighthampton ; J Consisted of 

crystal, § cut in facets. In the Inven- 
torium SejmlcJirale, several beautiful 
examples are engraved, most of them 
consisting of bone and clay. They 
appear to have been frequently made 
of stone, as the German name is Spindelstein. 

Numerous examples, of bone, are preserved in the Museum 
of the Eoyal Irish Academy, some large and some small. 
There is also a bone spindle ; and in one case a bone whorl 
on a bone spindle. In general, they are formed from the hard 
bones of quadrupeds. || The stone ones are known in Ireland 
by the popular name of " fairy mill-stones." 

In the process of spinning, the thread was inserted in a slit 
at the top or side of the spindle, so as to keep the old part 
firm in its position, while the new portion was being twisted. 
It was then released from the slit, an additional portion was 
wound on the spindle, the thread was inserted as before, and 
a new portion was spun. Sometimes there were holes for the 
thread in the whorl, as has been shown by Lord Braybrooke ; 
and indications of a similar kind appear in several of the 
objects here. 

The distaff and spindle are frequently alluded to in litera- 
ture, both ancient and modern ; and they were symbolical of 
female offices and duties. From the beautiful description of 
the virtuous woman in the Book of Proverbs,! we see that the 



distaff and spindle were currently used in the domestic opera- 


* Archseol., XXXVIII., p. 340. 


T " She seeketh wool and flax, and 


t Ibid., p. 344. 


worketh willingly with her hands." 


t Ibid., p. 86, 97. 


. . . " She layeth her hands to the 


§ Ibid., p. 335. 


spindle, and her hands hold the dis- 


|| Wilde's Catalogue, pp. 116, 253, 


taff."— Prov. xxxi. 13, 19. 


274, 349. 





154 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

tions of the Hebrews ; and they were known, as we are well 
aware, in Egypt, Greece, and Kome. Among the remains of 
ancient Mexico is a spindle and whorl ; the latter hemisphe- 
rical, with its flat side downwards. It appears to be of terra- 
cotta,* with ornaments between two parallel circles. Among 
the paintings illustrative of the ancient Aztecs, there are four 
which represent a mother teaching her daughter to spin. The 
girl at first refuses, she is then encouraged by rewards of sweet 
cakes, and finally she is punished. The spindle is used with- 
out the distaff. f At the time of the discovery of America, 
one of the curious objects which the Mexican goldsmiths had 
fabricated with rude tools, was an ape with jointed hands and 
feet, holding a spindle.:} The Indians of Puebla generally 
twirl the spindle in a saucer, a piece of gourd or of pottery, or 
any hollow object. § The fiat surface of their whorl is upper- 
most, and the hemispherical part towards the point of the 
spindle. || Certain tribes in New Mexico not only spin in this 
way, but use the upright loom like that of ancient Iceland 
and the Faroe isles ; the men also knit their own stockings, H 
like the men of Yspytty, in North Wales. 

Schiller in his Lay of the Bell, representing the mediaeval 
practices of his own country, which, however, still survive, 
thus speaks of the matron : ** — 

She winds round the spindle the threads at her leisure, 

And fills odoriferous coffers with treasure, 

And storeth the shining receptacles full, 

Of snowy-white linen and pale-coloured wool ; 

And blends with the useful, the beauteous and pleasing, 

And toils without ceasing. 



* Schoolcraft, VI., PI. xxxviii., 
fig. 3. 

tlb, IV., 441. 

t II.., IV., 442. 

§ Those who know the American 
ipinning-top, and who hare seen how 
Long it keeps up its rotation in a hol- 
low <if metal or pottery, will sec the 
advantage of this arrangement. The 
Improvement in the toy may hare 



been suggested by this or some simi- 
lar fact. 

|| Schoolcraft, IV., PI. xxxvii., figs. 
4, 5. 

1 lb., IV., 76. 

** Numerous other details arc given 
in " Two Essays on Spinning and 
Weaving," in the Ulster Journal of 
Archaeology^ Vol. V., by the present 
writer. 



SPINDLE WHOliLS. 



155 




Among the remains of the Habitations Lacustres in Switzer- 
land, numerous spinclelsteins have been found. * 

2. Varieties. Objects of this kind are frequently found in 
the ancient graves of all parts of England ; and Mr. Faussett 
remarks that he found them only in the graves of womenj* 
and children. He calls them in many places little quoits, 
and each one a discus ; but at length he suspects that he is 

in error, and ap- 
proaches very 
near a correct 
explanation J of 
them. He found 
them, like our 

OWn, Of VarioUS Lead-plain. 

materials, ivory, lead, clay, &c; but 
ivory-ornamented. the great majority of them were of 

earthenware of some kind. Of the twelve objects shown in 
these woodcuts, seven represent earthenware spindle whorls. 
They are also of various shapes ; viz., cylindrical, plano-convex, 
or flat on one side 
and convex on the 
other ; with two 
flat sides and a 
rounded edge, like 
the example in 
ivory, and of a 
shape partly coni- 
cal. In the matter 
of ornamentation, 
they are decorated 





Large Cylindrical Whorl, Earthenware. 



* Troy on, PI. viil, figs. 8, 11 ; PI. 
xii. ; and pp. 127, 159, 466, 471. 

t I never found any of them but in 
women's and children's graves, and 
chiefly in the latter ; from whence I 
have been induced to believe that they 
were a kind of toy. — Inv. Sepul. 
p. 151. 

1 It has since occurred to mc that 



this, and the many other things like 
this that I have found, (and mentioned 
in their several places,) may possibly 
have been formerly used and played 
with, as children among us play with 
button-molds, viz., by passing a piece 
of Avood through their centre, and 
spinning them with their finger and 
thumb.— lb., p. 57. 



156 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




'horl. Earthenware. 




Cylindrical, with concentria 
circles ; Earthenware. 



with checks, concentric 
circles, lines diverging 
from a centre, the old pat- 
tern of centre and circum- 
ference, &c. But in general 
they are plain, notrequir- smau cylindrical wi 
ing any ornamentation. 

In a grave at Kingston Down, two of the spindles 
were discovered which Mr. Faussett somewhat 
quaintly called " ivory sticks ;" but Mr. Aker- 
man, who understood their 
true purpose, gave them 
their proper name of spin- 
dles.* 

3. Objects in this Collec- 
tion. In this collection there 
are forty-four in all ; viz., 
thirty-four of lead, seven of 
terra-cotta, and three of stone. Lead was there- 
fore much the commonest material ; but the ob- 
jects made of it were less attractive in appearance 
than those of rarer 
material. Of these, 
twenty-two are the 
property of Mr. Smith, 
eighteen belong to 

Mr. Mayer, and four to myself. The nine which 
have been engraved will serve to show these 
Figs. 3 and 4 are of stone, the latter 
slate. Figs. 1, 2, 5, 8, 
cotta ; the last of which 
produced in moulding 
of lead. The first four 
collection, the two 
Smith's, and the re- 
(Figs 5, 8, 9) from my 




Hemispherical, checked ; of baked clay. 



Ivory Spindles. 

(1 i st i notions sufficiently, 
apparently of dark 
and 9 arc of terra- 
shows circular marks 
it. Figs. 6 and 7 are 
are from Mr. Mayer's 
leaden ones from Mr. 
maining examples 




Lead— riano-eonvex. 



Inventoriuni Sepnlchrale, p. 93. 



BEADS AND PENDANTS. 



157 



own. The objects 1 — 4 are Boniano-British * or Boman,f but 
it is difficult to assign any date to the others, the use of 
such objects having ranged over many centuries. But from 
the time when industrial arts 
began to be plied in the neigh- 
bourhood, to the time when the 
use of the spindle- whorl ceased, 
say from the fourth to the 
eighteenth century, all these ob- 
jects must have been manufac- 
tured. These are wide major 
and minor limits ; but it would 
be unsafe to bring them nearer. 
Possibly some of the objects were used occasionally for other 
purposes. 




Bluish baked earth— Plano-convex. 



X.— BEADS AND PENDANTS.— Plate XV. . 

1. Introduction. At some period of its civilization, almost 
every nation has delighted in the use of beads. They are 
still common among the humbler 
classes in this country ; and travellers 
know the avidity with which they 
are sought after by savage nations. 
The ancient Irish must have possessed 
them in large quantities, as they are 
still found, often at depths far below 
Large Bead, from a Kingston TumuiuB. the soil disturbed by modern cultiva- 
tion. Other members of the Celtic family also used them, for 
they are found in situations which the Koman and Saxon 
people did not reach. Very large amber beads were found at 
Titterstone-clee Hill, Salop, supposed to be Celtic beads which 
had formed part of a chaplet. J Eoman beads have frequently 
been found, as recently of glass, at Uriconium.§ Some of 




* J. Y. A. 

t A.W. F. 



X Proceedings Soc. Ant., II. 186. 
§ Wright's Guide to Uriconium, p. 86. 



158 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



them are large, as if for single suspension, and others small, 
as if to be threaded on a string. Frequently they are manu- 
factured of fine pottery. It is supposed that, in the Eoman 
and more recent times, they formed a considerable article of 
commerce. Martyrs in the catacombs are found with strings 
of them round their necks ; and the use of them appears to 
have been general.* Two female figures on an elegant Greek 
vase appear to have beads down the front of their 
dresses, and others round their necks ; also, a string of beads 
has been found in an Etruscan tomb.f On the obelisk 
procured by Layard, the figures on the several sides 
which are bringing tribute, appear to have their dresses 
edged with beads. J The beads discovered with Anglo-Saxon 

remains are numerous, as 

we shall see. One is a 

large blue and white bead 





from Kingston Down, and 
uatM . D .„ is shown here; and, besides 

" Skeleton of a Bead." ' ' ^^s^es*" 

the complete or fractured ones, there is some- Blue and white Bead, 
thing which is called by Faussett a " skeleton of a bead." It is 
of brass ; was found in a woman's grave at Sibertswold ; and 
contains in its central tube some of the threads on which 
it had been strung. 

2. Material and Shape. Chaucer mentions that the Prioresse 
wore a pair of beads of coral ; but he appears to mean 
bracelets of beads. Besides the materials mentioned, we have 
others of amber, and of yellow glass, apparently in imitation 
of it ; as in those found among the antiquities from Italy, 
Styria, and Mecklenburg. § Twelve of those discovered with 
the Frankish remains at Envermen were of a hardened paste, 
covered with a yellow enamel in the form of eyes, and other 
patterns.|| Two were of dark-green glass, encircled by bands 



* Cochet : La Normamlic ISou- 
terraine, 27:5. 

t Journ. Arch. Assoc, XII. f>. 



X Illustrations, &c, Tl. liii. — Ivi. 
§ Arch., XXXVI., 856. 
|| Ibid. XXXVII., 108. 



BEADS AND PENDANTS. 



159 



of white enamel.* One discovered in the Kentish graves, with 
earthen and with red and white glass beads, was a long silver 
one ; some of the threads with which it had been strung still 
remaining within it.-f- Those discovered with the mortuary 
urns at Stade, on the Elbe, were of glass. Among the great 
rarities and riches in the closet of Queen Mary, are enume- 
rated " bracelets, caskanets, and laces ; beads of gold, kabilli- 
ments, girdles, funs, buttons." J Among the antiquities of 
Mexico, are several strings of beads of solid gold.§ In the 
collection of the Eoyal Irish Academy is an encaustic porcelain 
pin bead, on a bronze pin ; || also beads of bone about half an 
inch in diameter. Beads of bone and horn have been frequently 
procured from the Crannogues,^ but they are seldom pre- 
served. On a skeleton found in the barrows of Dorset, a 
cowrie shell perforated appeared to have been worn as a bead.** 
Beads are common among the American Indians, ff and an 
Ojibbewa belle appears to have several shoulder-straps, and 
other articles of dress, bordered with beads. tt Beads made 
from human teeth ground down have been discovered ; and 
pendants made from perforated bears' teeth are common. §§ An 
Indian warrior's baldrick or girdle, and his garters, are usually 
ornamented with small beads, ||[| and fringed at the ends. In 
an ancient copper mine, which had been worked before the 
time of Columbus, bone beads and pendants were found. In 
India, berries like those of our arbutus are still used 
as beads ; and the practice was known to the ancients also. 

In shape they are spherical, orange-shaped, onion-shaped, 
flat like a disc, or a slice cut off a cylinder, and occasionally 



* Several enamelled beads of great 
beauty have been found in ancient 
graves in America, but they are all 
supposed to be of European origin. 
Schoolcraft, I. 103, 104. 

f Inventorium Sepulchrale, p. 108, 
PI. xi., fig. 6. 

J Hearne's Glossary. 

§ Schoolcraft, IV., 448. 



|| Wilde's Catalogue, p. 1G4. 

f Ibid., 338, 339. 

** Archasologia, XXX., 330. 

ff Schoolcraft, III. 69. 

ft Ibid., V., 146, PI. xvii. 

§§ Ibid., I., 104, PI. xxiv., figs. 25, 
26 ; and PI. xxv., figs. 26, 27, 28. 

Illl Ibid., I., 68, 104. 



160 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




Ornamented Bead. 



irregular. An amber bead found in a tumulus at Mold,* and 
now in the British Museum, is pierced, and in the form of a 
flattened sphere, f They are fluted, striated, dotted, clouded, 
and otherwise ornamented. The an- 
nexed bead was found in a woman's 
grave with several others, and with 

o 

spindle whorls, &c. % It is blue, with a 
yellow zig-zag streak through it. In 
some respects intermediate between the bead and 
the mere pendant, is an object like that in the 
margin. It is a hemispherical piece of blue 
glass, with a thin frame and back of silver. It 
was found in a woman's grave. 

Half Bead, framed. 

3. Positions in which found. In some instances they have 
clearly been worn as a necklace ; § and in general they are 
found with the remains of women and children. At Long 
Wittenham, in Berks, glass and amber beads were found in 
the graves of women, || accompanied by toothpicks, ear- 
picks, tweezers, and occasionally by bunches of keys. The 
Abbe Cochet found a string of beads on the neck of a 
woman in the Frankish cemetery of Aubin-sur-Scie.1T In. 
that of a young woman, two amber beads were found;** in 
that of another, glass beads ;-f-f and in that of a female child 
three glass beads. %% In a woman's grave there were twelve 




* In a Scottish satire, written by- 
James Inglis about 1510, amber beads 
are represented as common, and are 
called " apill-renyies " or apple strings. 
The editor of the Chronicle of Scottish 
Poetry remarks, (vol. I., p. 384,) that 
" the French phrase pomme oVambre 
means an amher bead, in shape and 
colour like an apple. By analogy or 
imitation, the word apill or apple 
appears to have had the same signifi- 
cation with us. The fashion of 



wearing amber necklaces, by degrees 
went down to among the lower sort 
of people in Scotland ; it is now 
almost exploded even among them." 

t Proceedings S. A., IV., 132. 

X Invent. Sepul., p. 181. 

§ Arch., XXXVII., 109. 

|| Ibid., XXXVIII., 331. 

1 Proceedings S. A., III.. 98. 

** Arch., XXXVIIL, 337. 

ft Ibid., XXXVIIL, 338. 

\X Ibid., XXXVIIL, 339. 



BEADS AND PENDANTS. 161 

amber -55, and two glass beads ; and in another, 280 amber 
beads -f- of various sizes. In one instance, glass and amber 
beads were found on the breast ; J and in the Anglo-Saxon 
cemetery at Brighthampton, Oxon, near the hands of the 
skeleton, were nine§ large amber beads, supposed to have 
formed bracelets. In two instances, the beads appear to have 
been attached to the sword-knot of a warrior, for they were 
found near the pommel, || in the situations which they would 
have occupied had the cords remained. In the Anglo-Saxon 
graves of Kent, seven irregular amber beads were found in 
a child's grave, along with a perforated copper coin of Dio- 
cletian, IF the whole of which had evidently been suspended 
round the neck. It may be sufficient to state generally, 
that beads were found in large numbers in 128 of the Kentish 
graves ; ** and that several of the most elegant of these are 
represented along with the letterpress, and also on Plates v. 
and vi. in the Inventorium Sejmlchrale. 

The Abbe Cochet gives an interesting account of the beads 
found by him, especially at Londinieres,|f of which two neck- 
laces are represented, and he cites numerous passages from the 
ancient writers in repudiation of the idea, that 
beads were used formerly as now, viz., as mere 
amulets of savages. Mons. Fred. Troy on J J shows 
that beads were strung occasionally on large rings, 
and their suspension on smaller rings is noticed 
whitish B^d oma- here under the head of ear-rings. 

mented with blue, on ° 

a silver rinpr. 

Besides these ornamental purposes, beads were employed, 
and still are, as religious aids — the rosary consisting of one or 




* Archseolog., XXXVIII., 340. 
f Ibid. XXXVIII., 343. 
$ Ibid. XX K VIII., 343. 
§ Ibid. XXXVII., 395. 
|| Ibid. XXXVIIL, 88 — 96, see 
PI. ii. 

Tf Inventorium Sepulchrale, p. 14. 



** In 25 graves at Gilton ; 51 at 
Kingston ; 38 at Sibertswold ; 6 at 
Barfriston ; 2 at Beaksbourne ; 4 at 
Chartham ; and 2 at Crundale. 

ft La Norm. Souter., 272 & 273. 

XX Transactions of the Soc. Antiq. 
of Zurich, 1841. 

M 



162 



PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 



more decades. Every tenth, or sometimes the eleventh, was a 
larger one, or gand. Those of men rarely contain more than 
ten heads, or sometimes eleven, but ladies generally have 
double or treble decades. In the monumental brasses there 
are numerous examples of both men and women, especially 
the latter, who have Eosaries dependent from their girdles.* 
In Ireland, the beads of a rosary are called pcdreem (Irish, 
paittrin, as if the little father, in memorial of the prayer) ; and 
in England and Scotland the use of the rosary was asso- 
ciated with pattering prayers, evidently in allusion to the 
monotony with which they were muttered.-}* 

(4) Beads in this Collection. — The beads proper in this col- 
lection amount to about 42 in all; but others enumerated 
among the spindle whorls may have been beads also. A very 
interesting one was excavated by a rabbit in 
Hilbre island in 1863 ; of course, since these 
remarks were written. It is glass, of a bright 
cobalt blue, veined with enamel of yellow, 
banded by a small thread of green ; both 
enamels being opaque, 




Bead from Hilbre Island. 

and the glass transparent. To an 



* On a brass at East Tudenham 
Church, Norfolk, the husband has a 
rosary of twelve dependent from his 
girdle, and each of his wives one of 
sixty. On the Jarmon brass, Ged- 
dington, Northampton, a dagger is 
suspended with the rosary. — Hudson's 
Mom Brasses. Frequently the rosary 
is pendent from the belt by a hook. — 
Shaw's Dresses and Decorations, vol. II. 
The wife of Richard Rysle, in Great 
Crcssingham Church, Norfolk, has 
eighty beads on her rosary ; a lady in 
St. Clement's Church, Norwich, lias 
forty ; and El White, at Shottisham 
Church, Norfolk, has fifty. The wife 
Of William Yclverton, at Rougham, 
Norfolk, has fifty. — Col/nan's Brasses. 
Anne Duke, in Frenze Church, Nor- 
folk, appears to have 2 5, some of which 



are hid by her Aulmoniere. — See 
Arch. Journal, II. 246. 

t Bid your beads and loll your needs, 
Your holy aves, and your creeds; 
Holy maid, this must be done, 
If you mean to live a nun. 
0. P. Merry Devil of Edmonton, 
1608. 

Sum patteriswith his mowth on beids, 
That lies his niynd all on oppression. 

Dunbar : Tydingsfra the Session. 

Preistie suld be patteraris, and for the pepyl pray. 

Gawin Douglas : Satire on the 
Tymes. 

Than mycht husbands labour thair stciils, 
And preistis mycht pattir and pray tlu-ir fill. 

Dan. MSS., JoIni-L'p-on-lands Com- 
plaint. 

Flti Eustace you with Lady Clare, 
May bill youv beads, ami patter prayer, 
I gallop to the hobt. 

Scott : Marmion. 



XV 













rOR D 1 ? HUMES HOYUKE. MT-. 



.E WORRALL.in 



BEADS 



BEADS AND PENDANTS. 



163 



intermediate class of objects usually of lead, the name 
" roundels " has sometimes been given. Of those reckoned, 7 
are of brass, 13 of lead, 8 of terra-cotta, 13 of glass, and 1 of 
stone. None have been found of amber, those which were 
thought to be so, turning out on examination to be yellow 
glass. Of the whole number, 20 belong to Mr. Smith, 13 to 
Mr. Mayer, and 9 to myself. Of the objects engraved on Plate 
XV., figs. 1, 8, and 14 are lead ; figs. 2, 3, 4, and 9, are glass ; 
figs. 7 and 10 are terra-cotta ; fig. 13 is ivory, and figs. 5 and 
11 are brass. Fig. 7 was a beautiful bead of my own which 
was accidentally broken, and the fracture shows the firing in its 
manufacture. Of the remainder, figs. 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, re- 
present objects in Mr. Mayer's collection ; and the seven not 
enumerated are Mr. Smith's. 

Of this interesting group of beads, the whole have been 
obtained from women's graves. The largest is striated with 
red, white, and yellow ; and the two smaller ones, one of which 
is broken, are earthenware, striped with yellow. 




Group of Anglo-Saxon Beads. 

5. Other Pendent Objects. — It was not unusual at many 
periods of the past to suspend other small objects, after the 
manner of beads, on the knotted silver rings ; and, as might 
be expected, these also are usually found in the graves of 



164 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 






Portion of Silver Pendant. 



women and children. The annexed objects 

are both of silver ; and each, without being 

perforated, is prepared for suspension. The 

larger was found in a woman's grave, and 

the smaller in a child's ; and both were near 

the neck. Two others of the 

same material, and found in 

similar circumstances, are more 

or less fractured. The decora- 

Silver Objects for suspension. &m of One, found in a WOlUail's 

grave, bears some resemblance to a female bust, and the 
other has been stamped, as 
if by a punch, with five 
bosses, of which four re- 
main. It has been suggest- 
ed that they were amulets; 
but the idea of ornament 
appears to supply sufficient motive. In 
one instance, the object thus pendent was 

jrrrm very small ; but, as before, it was of silver, and was 
(&m\ f° im d near the neck of a female skeleton. As in 
vj'jy many similar cases, fragments of 
s pe a nd S ant er chain were found along with it. In 
another case the brass instrument for suspend- 
ing was very peculiar ; but what the objects 
attached were, we do not know. 

It will be seen that four of the objects 
engraved on Plate XV. are supposed to be of suspendinp-instrnment. 

x Brass 

this class. Tigs. 6, 12, and 15, are brass, including the little 
pendent objects attached to them ; and fig 13 is ivory. If it 
be doubted that they were used for decoration on the prin- 
ciple of cui bono — we must extend the inquiry, and apply 
it to beads also; the use of which lias been promoted, as 
we know, by the principal members of the human family. 




Portion of Embossed 
Silver Pendant. 





J evvorhau.i: 



SPURS 



SPUES AXD HORSE FURNITURE. 



165 




Elegant Bronze Spur, with buckles and loops of iron. 



XL— SPURS AND HORSE FURNITURE.— Plate XVI. 

1. — Spurs. 

1. Ancient Sjwrs. — 
The spur is not pro- 
perly an article of 
personal decoration, 
nor is it a portion of 
horse-furniture. It 
holds a sort of intermediate position between the two. The 
most ancient spurs with which we are acquainted are Roman 
ones. One of them, like the Norman prick-spur with which 
we are familiar, was found at Hod Hill in Dorset, and is 
described by Mr. Roach Smith; and others at Oxford.* 
Others have been found at Roman stations, but are supposed 
to be more modern; as that found at Chesterford, and de- 
scribed by Lord Braybrooke in his Antigua Explorata.f An 
ancient one, beautifully formed, was found at Chavannes in 
Switzerland, by Mr. Frederick Troyon. Another was found at 
the Roman station by Lymne, but in close connection with a 
Saxon coin. J One in the Museum at Shrewsbury, has the 
two bars which embrace the foot of unequal lengths. 

A very ancient kind of spur in use in this country, was a 
simple goad fixed in leather ; one of which is noticed by 
Meyrick, Vol. I., p. 118.§ A spur of the eighth century is 
engraved by Strutt from an ancient manuscript. || Several 
Norman spurs are engraved by Meyrick, and in Skelton, Vol. 
II., PI. lxxx. Their form in the eleventh century may be 
seen in Dr. Bruce's Account of the Bayeux Tcqocstnj, page 104. 
It is said that the goad-spur continued in use till the time of 
Stephen ; but"' it was employed, at least occasionally, much 
later. In the time of Stephen we find it on the seal of 



* Archseological Journal, XIII.,179. 
+ Journal of the Arch. Assoc, III. 
179. 
X Archaeolog., XXXV., 398. 
§ It was in connection with the 



sewing of this on, that mention is 
made of " my goodly sporyar's needle," 
in the old play of Gammer Gurton's 
Needle. 

|| Dress and Costumes, I., pi. xiii. 



166 



PABT II. — THE OBJECTS. 



Iticliard^ Constable of Chester,* and it is figured on the great 
seals of Henry II., Richard, and John. At Mentmore, in 
Backs, a spur of the twelfth century was discovered. - !" Mr. Poach 
Smith's collection, which contained spurs from the eleventh to 
the seventeenth century, embraced several, both Norman and 
Saxon ; and several are visible on monumental brasses. Thus 
Sir JohnD'Abernon, 1277, and Sir Roger de Trumpington, 1289, 
wear the goad-spur. Also on the incised slab of Sir John de 
Bitton,J in Bitton Church, Somerset, 1227, there is a goad- 
spur ; as well as on another at Avenbury in Herefordshire^ 
"We find the same spur on Sir Robert de Bures, 1302, at Aston 
in Suffolk. || On an ivory casket of the fourteenth century, 
described by Mr. Thomas Wright,1 there is a goad-spur on the 
knight's heel. Sir William Calthorpe, of Burnam Thorpe, 
Norfolk, 1420, also wears one. Thus we trace its occasional 
use down to the beginning of the fifteenth century. 

In the Royal Museum at Copenhagen there is a small 

bronze spur, the bars of which 
would scarcely extend beyond the 
back part of the heel ;** but the 
bronze spur was often small as 
compared with the iron one. ff 
Meyrick says that the ro welled 
spur was invented in the time of 
Henry III., and that it appears 

From okncclinttfifnteofJohnStatham, 1108, UpOll his great Seal I bllt Olie of 
Moriey Church. ^ 

the earliest examples is that on 
the brass of Sir John de Creke, 13274J It was not common 
before the time of Edward I. The goad and rowell both 
appear on the brass of Bryan Stapelton, 1438, in Ingham 




• Fail-holt's Costume in England, 
445. 
f ArcfeaoL, XXXV., 381. 
X BoutcU's Brasses, 159. 
§ ArchflBolog., XXXI., 268. 
II Boutcll, Frontispfede. 



f Essays, Vol. II., 98. 
*• Worsaa, Afbild., 95. 
tf Guide to Northern 
logy — Ellesniere, p. 53. 
XX Oxford Brasses, lxix. 



Archico ■ 



SPUES AND HORSE FURNITURE. 



167 



Church, Norfolk; the goad bending over the rowell like a 
cock-spur.* The rowell appears in conjunction with a stop, 
to prevent the spur from sliding up and down, on the brass 
of Edmund Clere, 1488, in Stokesley Church, Norfolk, f 

2. Allusions to the subject — Part of the imports of the 
milliners from Milan, appear to have consisted of spurs ; but 
Eipon, in our own country, afterwards became celebrated for 
their manufacture. Hence the proverb, " As true as a Eipon 
rowell/' 

The business of the spurrier was a distinct trade, though he 
attended at the same time to the other metallic parts of horse- 
furniture. Spurs of gold and silver existed, besides those 
which were gilt or plated ; and, in special cases, they were 
adorned with precious stones. Those of the baser metals were 
common. In the Expenses of the Wardrobe of King Edward 
III., a large number of gilt and white spurs are given in 
charge J to the person to whose department they belonged. 

In the Shuttleworth Accounts, for December 1609, a pair 
of spurs costs 2s. ; in November 1612, another pair costs 12d. ; 
and in September 1617, a pair of brass spurs costs 14d. In 
January 1599, there is the following entry: — " The spurrier for 
tynninge towe brydall byttes of my Mr., xyj d ."§ 

The spurs formed an important part of the equipment of the 
horseman; and in Eitzherbert's Bohe of Husbandry, 1532, they 
are enumerated among the necessaries which a gentleman's 
servant should look to before going to ride, and should know 
by rote. || To win his spurs was to secure knighthood, an 
important step in the life of a young man ; and the ceremony 
of buckling them on, still preserved at the election of a knight 



* Cotman Brasses. 

t Ibid. 

X Archseolog., XXXI., 100. 

§P. 115. 

|| Purse, dagger, cloak, nightcap, kerchief, shoeing- 

horn, budget, and shoes ; 
Spear, mail, hood, halter, saddlecloth, spurs, hat, 

with thy horse-comb ; 



Bow, arrows, sword, buckler, horn, leash, gloves, 

string, and thy bracer ; 
Pen, paper, ink, parchment, rcedwax, pumice, books, 

thou remember ; 
Penknife, comb, thimble, needle, thread, point, lest 

that thy girth break ; 
Bodkin, knife, lingel; give thy horse meat; sec he be 

shoed well j 
Make merry, sing an thou can ; take heed to thy 

geer that thou lose none. 



168 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



of the shire, was one of great interest. We are told of the 
knights of Buccleugh at Branksome, — 

Ten of them were sheathd in steel, 
With belted sword and spur on heel.* 
While, at the same time, 

Thirty steeds, both fleet and wight, 
Stood saddled in stable day and night. 
Chaucer describes the Wyf of Bathe as having 
On hire fete a pair of sporres large ; 
and, in another part of the Canterbury Tales, 
he gives us a glowing account of a tournament. 
Now ringen trompes loud and clarionn ; 
Ther is no more to say, but est and west, 
In gon the speres sadly in the rest ; 
In goth the sharp spore into the side, 
Ther see men who can juste and who can ride. 
So important was the spur, that the ancient 
term for riding was derived from it. Thus 
Chaucer says in the Bime of Sir Topas : — 

he priked as he were wood, 

His faire steede in his priking, 




Bronze Rowclled Spur, 
with loops and hooks. 



So swatte that men might hini wring, 



His sides were al blode. 

And in Bobert of Gloucester's Chronicle, it is said 

An stede he gan prikie wel vor the maistrie.f 

The first lines in Spenser's Faery Qnecne are, 

A gentle knight was pricking on the plaine 

Ycladd in mightie armes and silver shielde. 

The term was also transferred from the exercise of riding to 

the horseman ; thus, Lord Marmion J says to James V. of 

Scotland, 

Nottingham hath archers goody 

Ami Yorkshire men are stern of mood, 

Northumbrian prickers wild and rude. 

Shakspeare employs the two terms in the same line 

What need we any spur but our own cause, to prick us to redress.§ 



* Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel, 
i.. 4. 


J Scott's Marmion, v. 17. 
§ Julius Caesar, ii., 1. 


t Ilcarno, p. (53. 





SPURS AND HOESE FURNITURE. 



169 



3. Remarks on Peculiar Spurs. — In this collection there are 
thirteen in all, of which not one is perfect. The six forms en- 
graved on Plate XVI. are all of the goad form ; and hence it is 
apparent that Norman chevaliers were familiar with the sea- 
coast of Cheshire, at Meols. Figs. 6 and 7 present greater fea- 
tures of resemblance than any other two, though they are not 
quite alike ; nor is it necessary that they should be so, as it is 
generally understood that the ancient equestrians wore the 
spur only on one heel. The Hibernic argument in such a 
case is unanswerable,— that if the one side of the horse go 
forward, the other will not stay behind.* From the primitive 
and inartistic form of the goad in figs. 6 and 7, it may perhaps 
be allowed to conjecture that they are Saxon, and older types 
than the others. In figs. 1, 2, 3, and 4, there is the common 
feature of a neck, and a conical or pyramidical head to the 
stimulus ; but the necks are not of the same length or thick- 
ness, nor are the heads of the same form. In fig. 2, the section 
of the cone gives us a low isosceles triangle ; in fig. 3, it is a 
high one, and must have been, in its perfect state, at least an 
inch long. The head of fig. 1 is nearly perfect at present, but 
nothing can be inferred from that of fig. 4. All these are iron. 
Figs. 5 and 8 are portions of rowelled spurs of brass or bronze. 
The former is a star of six points, and the latter of seven. 
Among the miscellaneous objects in metal, engraved Plate 
XXIX., is one, fig. 4, which appears to have been part of a 
spur. It is of iron, inlaid with silver, and on it appears a 
human face. 

Three of the spurs or portions belong to Mr. Mayer, viz., figs. 
5 and 8, Plate XVI., and fig. 4, Plate XXIX. Nine belong to 
Mr. Smith, including the six goad spurs on Plate XVI. ; and 
one object is my own. 



* No instance appears to be known 
of the Norman spur occurring in pairs; 
and on a curious ivory carving of the 



thirteenth century, each of the knights 
has but one spur. 



170 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



The rowelled spurs of post-Norman times of course assumed 
many forms, only a few of which are shown here, though 
various others are described. In the example given at the 
head of this article, the rowell stem is large, and forms an 
elbow ; there are five well-defined goads on the rowell ; and 
there is a rude cross at the hinge which fastens it. The sides 
of the fork are curved so as to fall below the projections of 
the ankles ; they and the stem are decorated with bead-work ; 
and, while the body of the spur is bronze, the loops and 
buckle are of iron. The buckle is also peculiar in form. The 
one which is given in connection with the solleret or plated 
shoe, tells its own tale. It was in use at the close of the 
fourteenth century ; it has a strap which passes over, and 
another under, the foot. It is fastened by a cruciform clasp ; 
the bow is bent as before; and the shank, which is not 
curved, admits a solid rowell of eight geometrical points. 
The next specimen was found at St. Wulstan's, county of 
Kildare, on the river Liffey. The bow is considerably curved, 
and there are apertures on the lower side for the attachment 
of straps or chains. There are metal hooks at the extremities 

of the bow, and rude decora- 
tions at its opposite side. 
The rowell is of moderate 
size. This is a common type. 
The next example is a very 
beautiful one. It is of an- 
tique bronze, with a short, 
narrow, and straight bow; 
and with a large and beauti- 

Elegant Spur of Antique Bronze. ful rOWCil of eight bill lit luil'S. 

It is GJ inches long; and the fork, which is 2J wide, is 
unsymmetrical in its two bars. This is not unfrequently the 
case. On one side is a mortice-hole, as if for the passage of a 
Btrap; and from the other is a loop, whence two pieces of 




SPUES AND HORSE FURNITURE. 171 

metal are pendent. The shorter, like a tag or buckle-shank, 
has a space for the insertion of a strap ; and the other, 
which is hinged in the middle, ends in a round buckle, like 
some of our Cheshire types. The strap appears to have passed 
from the shorter piece of metal under the foot, through the 
mortice-hole at the other end of the bow, and then to have 
been buckled to the other piece of metal which passed over the 
instep. Even these smaller portions are in the highest state of 
preservation, with minute tooling at the edges.* This appears 
to have been one of a pair, found in the same neighbourhood 
at an interval of many years. They were both in the collection 
of Dean Dawson, and are now the property of the Eoyal Irish 
Academy. 

2. — Horse Furniture generally. 

1. Peculiar Forms. — This appears to be the place to treat 
of Horse Furniture generally, though there are few articles in 
the collection which bear unequivocal proofs of having belonged 
to that class. That several of the Buckles, Tags, Studs, &c, 
did so, is a reasonable inference ; yet it is possible to separate 
in idea,, men and their necessary equipments from horses, 
especially at a remote spot on the seashore. On the site of a 
battle-field, or at the scene of some accident, it w T ould be 
more natural to find them associated. Still, there are objects 
in this coi lection, such as figs. 4, 5, 6, Plate XXVIII., which 
seem to belong to the harness of horses more than to any 
other known purpose. All these fragments are of brass. There 
are also numerous small pieces of metal, not unlike that 
shown in the last cut, as intended to hold a strap ; and, from 
the bridle-bits preserved in the Eoyal Irish Academy, it would 
seem that the reins were inserted in these pieces. Each such 
piece of metal moved on the ring of the bit, and contained 
three or four rivet-holes. 

* Wilde's Catalogue of the R. I. A., pp. 601, 602. 



172 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




The annexed illustration shows a cheek-piece, 
with the rein placed at some distance from the 
mouth-piece, so as to give a greater leverage ; and 
the metallic shanks for gripping the reins have 
one and two rivets respectively. This is composed 
of simple bars, four inches and three quarters wide, 
and ending in dogs' heads. Another fragment 
shows part of the mouth-piece, and the two rein- 
holders as before. Each of them has space for 



Cheek-piece 



^aeeK-piece, • , -i 

shewing rein-holders. Olie HVet Only. 

wide; on one side 



This is more than four inches 
flat, but on the other 
rated. One wonders 
arrangement was cal- 
heavy strain; but our 
experience of centu- 
their own times, and 
what they found the 
next example is one 
and is called, from 
pattern." This is only 




triangular and deco- 

that so slight an 

culated to sustain a 

ancestors had the 

ries as well as of 

must have chosen 

most suitable. The 

shewing decoration, 

the style, "the Horse- 

a fragment ; but, when complete, it measured nearly five 

inches in width. None of the rein-holders 

are attached. 

With these examples we may compare' 
a very peculiar piece of iron found at Gil- 
ton-town in Kent, by Faussett. There were 
two, of which one is figured here, each 
about six inches long, and held together by 



Bridle-bit and Rein-holders, 



an iron chain. To one of the pieces a 

Faussett \ V f\ \ 




/7V 
copper coin of Nero was riveted. Faussett \ f *>A \,f 
adds — " There can, I think, be no doubt vl^/ 
but that this was the bit of a bridle, and a PftltofBridle . "^pattern. 
great curiosity."* 



* Invcntorium Sepulchrale, p, 27. 



SPUES AND HORSE FURNITURE. 



173 




Part of Bridle Bit, Gilton-town. 



In the Koyal Irish Academy there are many such objects, 
consisting " chiefly of decorated rings, or triangular loops ; 
with three star-like staples attached, in several of which, as 
well as in those belonging to bridles, portions of thick buff 
leather remain."* The 
accompanying illustration, 
on half the scale of the 
original, was part of the 
breeching. Several small 
trefoil objects in brass exist 
in this collection, the actual 
use of which is unknown. 
They consist of an irregular 
ring in each case, the cir- 
cumference of which is bent into three loops, and from each 
of these a strap-holder, like those connected with the bridle 
bits, is pendent. Such objects frequently occur on Monu- 
mental Brasses, as at the throat of a knight. At two of the 
pendents, there are buckles, which receive the two ends of 
his collar of SS \ an d from the third a jewel is suspended. 
It is clear that they would serve in like manner for any other 




Metal of Breechins 



Wilde's Catalogue, p. 612. 



174 PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 

threefold object. In some antiquities brought from Magon 
in France, about 1855, by E. A. Macfie, Esq., the same struc- 
ture is shown; three shells being attached to the central 
ring at the bisection of their circumferences, and being riveted 
to the leather at the part which forms their hinges. 

In the year 1848, the workmen engaged upon the railway 
near JSTavan, on the Boyne, discovered some horse-harness of 
bronze, together with seven highly gilt and beautiful metallic 
objects, evidently used for the same general purpose.* We 
possess nothing so elegant in the present collection. 

An elegant Spanish bridle-bit, now in my possession, was 
found a few weeks ago in sinking the foundations of some 
houses in Mount Vernon, Liverpool. It was near a part of 
Prince Eupert's position during the siege of Liverpool, and is 
believed to have belonged to one of the cavaliers who accom- 
panied him. The material is iron and steel. 

2. Allusions to the subject in Literature. — Chaucer, in the 
Knightes Tale, speaks of — 

The fomy stedes on the golden bridel 
Gnawing : 
and in the Rime of Sire Thopas, he represents a horseman as 

follows : — 

His jambeux were of cuir bouly, 
His swerdes sheth of ivory, 

His helme of latoun bright, 
His sadel was of rewel bone, 
His bridel as the sonne shone, 
Or as the mone light. 
In the reign of Henry VI., gilt bridles and peytrels were 
forbidden by Act of Parliament ; the latter being the instru- 
ment which guarded the breast of the horse — pectorale. 
Alexander Neckham, in the twelfth century, gives a minute 
account of a horseman's equipment, and it may not be out of 
place to quote the prominent portions f of it. 
Equitaturus . . . ocreas habet et calcaria, sive sliinulos hortatorios 

* Wilde's Catalogue R. I. A., p. 573. | t Mayer's Vocal)., 100. 



SPUES AND HORSE FURNITURE. 



175 



quibus equo insideat, neque succusanti, neque cespitanti, neque recal- 
citranti, neque recursanti, neque reculanti, neque stimulos neganti, neque 
repedanti, neque antepedanti,sedbene ambulanti,et ad mittendumhabili 
. . . Strepe, sive scansilia* a sella apte dependeant . . . Pectorale autem, 
et cetere falere usui equitantis necessarie non obmittantur. Camum vel 
Capistrum,fven\xm vel lupatum,sivesalivare,spuruis sanguineis iufectum, 
habenas, et cingulam, et lingulam, pusculam et pulvillum, et trussulam 
sponte pretereo . . . Strigilein ferat. 

Among the early Saxon remains at Barrow Furlong, was 
the skeleton of a horse ; the bit was in his mouth, and iron 
articles, including a buckle, lay- near his jaws.*f" Bits of the 
Anglo-Norman period have also been discovered. \ One of 
the London companies was that of the Lorimers, or persons 
whose chief occupation it was to make bits and bridles. § The 
term is still preserved in the Scottish surname, Lorimer ; and 
one of the incorporated trades of Edinburgh still retains the 
appellation. 

The testures were tubes to hold head ornaments (see 
Capistrum, in the quotation above). Among the horse-gear of 
the Duke of Brabant, 1292 — 3, the following entry || appears — 

Pro ij. cindonis fortibus emptis ad cooperiendas iiij. paria hernesii, 
cum sellis cristis, testeris, . . . de armatura Ducis Brebantie, precium 
pecii, x s . vj d . xxj s . 

It further appears that the crests which decorated the horses' 
heads were made of parchment. " Item, pro vj pellibus 
parcameni ad cristas faciendas, xviij d ." 

In the Shuttle worth Accounts, in the enumeration of horse- 
furniture, " fyve harnishes " cost 3s. 6d. ; and in the Expenses of 
the Great Wardrobe of Edward III., a black saddle is gilt for 
a palfrey. IF It is true that our predecessors vied with each 



* Scansile, or " stigh-rope,'' here 
called " strepe," whence stirrup. Me- 
tal stirrups were unknown in England 
till about the sixteenth century. — 
Fosbrolce's Cyclop. Antiq. 

t Archscolog., XXXIII. , 330. 

+ Boutell's Introd., 245. 



§ Adeu, blacksmiths and' lorimeris, 
Adeu, the stinkand cordineris, 
That sellis the schone ouer deir. 
Sir D. Lindsay: Parliament of 
Correction. 

|| Camden Miscel., ii., 14, 18. 
f Archajol., XXXI. 99. 



176 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

other in the splendour of the equipments of both themselves 
and their horses ; but the following is only a poetic exagge- 
ration — 

Gowden graithed liis horse before, 

And siller shod behind ; 
The horse young Waters rade upon 
Was fleeter than the wind. 
It is only necessary to add, that the bones of horses which 
have been discovered are usually small, indicating an animal 
like the palfrey, or the ancient hobby of Ireland. We are 
impressed with the same idea in looking at the sculptures 
from Mneveh, and many ancient pictures ; indeed large horses, 
supposing them to have existed, would have been unsuited to 
this and similar districts. 

The decorations of horse-straps have been alluded to, and 
they may be seen in the old pictures which illustrate Frois- 
sart, and other books of that age or class. The bridles were 
frequently hung with bells and other pieces of metal, that 
made a noise during the progress of the horse, as in the 
examples alluded to under the head of Bells. There are also 
numerous allusions to this subject in our old English 
poetry : — 

Her boculs were of beryl stone, 

Sadyll and brydyll war .... 

With sylk and sendel about bedone, 

Hyr patreyl was of a pall fyne 

And hyr croper of the arase, 

On euery syde forsothe hong bells thre. 

Prophecy of Thomas the Rhymer. 
She heard a smit [smiting or clashing] o' bridle reins, 
She wished might be for good. 

0. B. Lord William. 
About the dead hour o' the night, 
She heard the bridles ring. 

0. B. Young Tamlane. 
I stamped wi' my foot, master, 
Aud gar'd my bridle ring. 

0, B. The Broomfid I Hill. 






XVI 




^RD^nuJMtSHOYLMU~Wi 



J.E WORRALL. 



IRON ; 



KXIVES. 



177 



'Tis merry, 'tis merry, in fairy land, 

When fairy birds are singing, 
When the court doth ride by their monarch's side, 

With bit and- bridle ringing. 



Scott. Alice Brand. 



XII. KNIVES.— Plate XVII. 

1. Introduction. — Of the early flint knives, only one specimen 
exists in this collection, indicating the existence of people in 
the stone age of civilization. It is represented Plate XXI., fig. 8. 
Knives of bronze are comparatively rare, and none are found 
in this collection ; but iron knives, which were much more 
common, have remained till our times in large numbers. 

2. Form, Size, <Scc. — The iron knife depicted by Worsaae* 
is like fig. 6 on Plate XVIL, when it was perfect. This also 
was iron. Knives have been found at the Eoman villa at 
Hartlip, Kent,f and Eomano-British iron knives near Settle, 
in Yorkshire. J At Barrow-Furlong, in Northamptonshire, 
twelve early Saxon knives were found together. They were 
from 5^ to 2 J inches long, and from f to £ broad. § A knife 
found at Gilton-town, in Kent, and described in the Invento- 
rium Sepulchrale, p. 7, is like our fig. 3, while others given 
there on Plate xv., figs. 3 and 8, resemble our fig. 1. A steel 
knife was found at Harnham Hill, near Salisbury, || but not 
resembling any of these. Certain Roman knives found at 
Hod Hill in Dorset, are broader than any of these, convex 
on the edge, and concave on the back^f Some Turkish knives 
at the International Exhibition were toothed like a reaping 
hook. The an- 
nexed example 
is very peculiar 
in shape, being 
broad and thick, 
and inclining to 




Knife of unusual sliape. 



* Afbildninger, p. 71. 

t Collectanea Antiqua, II. 

t Ibid. I.. Plate xxx. 



§ Archaeologia, XXXIL, 332. 

|| Ibid., XXXV., 273. 

^ Arclircol. Journal, vol. III. 9" 

N 



173 



PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 




the point at half a right angle. It was found in one of the 
Anglo-Saxon graves of Kent. In an old illustrated edition 
of the Bible (1519), the monk's rasorium or scraper resembles 
]STo. 5 on Plate XVII. Mr. Smith's collection of London anti- 
quities contains numerous knives, mostly of the sixteenth 
century. Some of them are of steel. Alexander Neckham* 
speaks of a priming-knife, which should be coulter-shaped. 
The example given here 
from Chartham Down, is 
of the pruning-knife 
shape ; it was 4| inches 

Coul'er-shaped Knife. 

long, and } broad. Bobert of Gloucesterf records that King 
Edmund was slain by a long pointed knife. A lancet-shaped 
knife, perhaps like that which slew King Edmund, is also 
given in the 



cut. 
Its length was 

Six inches. At Lancet- shaped Knife. 

Wiggington, Herts, a bronze knife was found about 3 J inches 
long, resembling the half of a pair of mediaeval shears ; having 
a straight edge, a curved back, and a sharp point.* The 
specimens that have come to light embrace generally Eoman, 
Romano-British, Anglo-Saxon, Danish, and English mediaeval. 
In the last class is the "Sheffield thwitel" mentioned by 
Chaucer,§ which connects us locally with modem times. "We 



to 

annexed 




* Mayer's Vocabularies, p. 111. 
t Robert of Gloucester, p. 310. 
X Proceedings of the Society of 
Antiquaries, IV-, 254. 

§ A Sheffield thwitel bare he in his hose 

The Reeve's Talc. 

" In the same belt was stuck one of 
those long, broad, sharp-pointed, and 
two-edged knives, -with a buck's horn 
handle, which were fabricated in the 
neighbourhood, and bore even at this 
early period the name of a Sheffield 
whittle."— Tvanhoe, I. p. 9, 



The word was formerly, and is still 
in use as a Scotticism : 

Ane rowsty quhittill to scheir the fcafll 

Bannatyne MSS., Wowing of Jok and 
Jynny. 

Macaulay adopts it in his " Lays of 
Ancient Home" — 

Hard by a Basher on a block 

Sad laid bit whittle down, 
Virginias c;iu-ht the whittle up, 

And hid it in his gown. 

It is also in frequent use in the 
United States, as in the expression 
*• whittling," or, abstractedly cutting 
a piece of wood. 



KNIVES. 



179 



learn from the old play of the Four PP., that pedlars 
carried about knives as part of their wares ; and in the 
Ancren Riwle, of the thirteenth century, we meet with a 
semi-Saxon proverb : " Ofte a ful skilful smith smeothith a 
ful woe [weak] knif." The Frere, in the Canterbury Tales, 
had his tippet stuffed full of knives and pins, partly for 
presents, and no doubt partly for exchange ; and such objects are 
enumerated among the st great rarities and riches " of Queen 

Mary. 

His tippet was ay farsed ful of "knives 
And pinnes, for to given fayre wives.* 

In Foxe's Book of Martyrs, p. 555, a man is represented as 
doing penance ; and from the girdle round his shirt he bears 
suspended a knife, as well as a purse and a rosary. The Eev. 
Cotton Mather, in describing the Massachussets Indians more 
than two centuries ago, says, " these shiftless Indians were 
never possessed of so much as a knife till we came among 
them. Their name for an Englishman was hiife-man;'' 'f 
M. Troyon describes and figures an ancient iron knife, with a 
slit at the end of the handle for suspension. | 

3. Knife-Handles. — It is clear from Worsase, p. 71, that 
several knives had bone handles, and in the interesting find 
at Barrow-Furlong, in Northampton, they appear all to have 
had handles of wood. Each was fastened in by an iron spike, 
or tang, at the bottom of the blade, and it is probable that 
each blade had been enclosed in a wooden sheath. § Eoman 
knives with a similar tang, either with a knob at the extremity, 
or a knob and loop, were found at Eichborough.|| Mr. 
Faussett describes and figures a brass knife-handle found at 
Kingston Down ; but it is pretty certain that it is not Saxon, 
however it found its way into the ancient grave. Among 



* Prologue to the Canterbury Tales. 
t Schoolcraft, I., 384. 
% Habitations Lacustres, p. 476, 
jil. xv., fig. 8. 



§ Arch., XXXIII., 332. 

|| Antiquities of Kichborough, &c., 
p. 99, 



180 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




the antiquities from 
Italy, &c, was a bronze 
knife, with a handle of 

the Same material.* In Brass Knife-handle. 

the singular cutpurse knife preserved by the Corporation of 
Newcastle-on-Tyne, the handle appears to be of bone, orna- 
mented with circles somewhat like the specimen engraved 
Plate XXXII., fig. 7. In the collection of the Eoyal Irish 
Academyf there are several knife-handles of bone, and some 
of ivory, with short iron blades attached. In the Crannogues, 
and occasionally in street cuttings, similar implements of 
manufactured bone J are frequently met with. Some of the 
bone-handled knives had a loop at the end for suspension, 
like that figured in Mr. Smith's Catalogue of London Antiqui- 
ties, p. 72. It would appear that Irish knives were popular 
in the fifteenth century ; for in the Eobin Hood ballads, pro- 
bably composed about that time, the outlaw is said to have 
possessed one. § 

4. Position of the Knife. — The knife was usually, if not 
always, suspended in a sheath ; but as the latter was generally 
of wood or leather, there are few examples of its preservation. 
There are in my own possession several beautiful knives of 
native manufacture, from the Gaboon country in Africa, all of 
which are enclosed in thin wooden sheaths. They are two- 
edged ; and at the distance of about half an inch from the 
edge all round, there is a thick ridge which catches the sheath 
and holds the knife tightly in. The figure on the margin 
represents a sheath of brass of the actual size, which, 
from its appearance when found, is supposed to have 
been enclosed in an outer wooden sheath. The smaller 



* Archeologia, XXXVI., 351. 

t Wilde's Catalogue, p. 2G3. 
X [bid., p. 261. 

§ BoUn polled forth an Irish knife, 
Ami nil lad Sir Gay in the Cue, 
Thnt ho \viih th-vit mi weiiiun DOtn 
h ftd 11 wwt 



Robin pulled forth an Irish knife, 
Ami losed John hand and fote, 

And nave him Sir dry's bow into his hand, 
Aaid bade it to be his boote. 

Robin Hood and Guy of Gisbornc, 
llitson's ed. 



KNIVES. 



181 




object, also of brass, is sup- 
posed to have formed the top 
of a sheath ; like the five rings 
which surround this one where Top of ^ife-sheatn. 
the handle of the knife strikes it. The position in 
which knives have been found indicates the point of 
their suspension. At the Fairford graves,* knives 
in iron appear to have been pendent from the neck, 
or they were sometimes found by the ribs ; and at 
Brighthampton, in Oxon, they were found near the 
shoulder and between the knees.f An Anglo-Saxon 
skeleton at Long Wittenham in Berks, had a knife, 
a buckle, and a pair of tweezers, all of iron, in the 
hands ; and these lay in the lap. At the same time 
two skeletons of women had the knife, one at the 
left hip and the other in the lap4 In the old ballad 




Knife, 3 in. long, found near left hip. 

of Sir Hugh of Lincoln, the Jew's daughter is said 
to have worn the penknife by her spare, i. e. pro- 
bably suspended from the girdle, or nearly as 
butchers and sailors still wear it. In the Inventory 
of Goods of Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Bichmond, 1527, 
the following entry occurs : — " Item, A gilt wood- 
knife, with a scabert and gyrdell of grene velwet, 
the buckle and pendentes of the same, gilt." § 
Knife-sheath, Messrs. Lindensclimidt show, from the position of 

Brass. ? - 1 - 

various objects in connexion with a skeleton, that a comb, a 
knife, scissors, and other ornaments have depended from the 
girdleJI 

5. Forks. — Forks are much more modern than knives, never- 



* Archeeologia, XXXIV., 79. 
t Ibid., XXXVIII., 88. 
% Ibid,, XXXVIII., 337. 



§ Camden Miscellany, vol. III. 
|| La Normandie Soutcrraine,p.242. 



182 



PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 



theless some very ancient ones exist. In the collection of the 
Royal Irish Academy there is a bone knife and fork. The fol- 
lowing description of them is given : — " A dark-brown coloured 
bone knife and fork, referred to at page 267 ; the former is Gl- 
and the latter 7 J inches long. They are in the most perfect state 
of preservation, and do not appear to have ever been used ; 
they were found, along with the bone pins in the same row, in 
the Ballinderry crannogue, and from the sharpness of the angles, 
and the extreme similarity in the ornamentation, it would seem 
that there was a manufactory of such articles there."* 

In Mr. Roach Smith's collection is a bronze fork of the 
twelfth century, or earlier date. In 1848 a small 
iron fork was found in a Romano-British settle- 
ment at Wetton, Stafford. It was preserved in. the 
museum of the late Mr. Eateman, Lomberdale 
House, Derbyshire, f A 




larger fork w r as found in 

Romano-British , • 

f0vk.-wet.t9n. excavating 




g prf. 



the Roman 
villa at Heddington near Oxford, by 
Mr. LI. Jewitt ; . and a faggot fork in a 
Roman villa at Walesby,J near Market 
Rasen. There is a folding spoon and 
fork in the possession of J. D. Gard- 
ner, Esq., Of abOUt A.D. 1600. The bowl Roman faggot-fork,-Walesb 7 . 

fits on to the prongs of the fork, and the length is 7J inches. § 
Forks of bone are found in Denmark, quadrangular, w T ith 
one end pointed ; and near them knives and the remains of 
food. || The New Zealanders had no name for forks till after 
the arrival of the English. ^[ M. Troyon figures a large fork, 
but it appears to have served as a musket-rest.** 



• Wilde's Catalogue, p. 338. 

t Reliquary, Vol. II., 53. 

+ The other ohjects shown with it 
here are, a workman's chisel, the 
head of which is much hattcred, and 
some nails of various sizes. 

§ Catalogue of the Special Exhi- 



bition of Works of Art at the South 
Kensington Museum, p. 21. 

|| Guide to Northern Archeology, 
Ellcsmcre, p. Gl. 

f Old New Zealand, p. 142. 

** Ilab. Lacus., 475, pi. xiv., fig. 
23. 



KEYS. 183 

6. Knives in this collection. — The number of knives which 
have been found and preserved is 31, all of which are of iron. 
Of these 28 belong to Mr. Smith, and 3 to Mr. Mayer. Of 
those which are engraved, No. 4 is thicker than the rest, and 
may possibly have been a workman's tool * Such things have 
frequently been discovered, e. g. a stone-cutter's implement 
with the faggot fork just noticed, and a tool found at Eich- 
borougLf Fig. 5, which is given of half its size, has a plain 
wooden handle, which was saturated with moisture, and is 
cleft by drying. It is difficult to determine its age, but it is 
probably more than a century old. The others are all much 
more ancient. Of those which are engraved, figs. 1, 3, and 5, 
represent objects in Mr. Smith's collection ; and figs. 2, 4, and 
6, similar ones in Mr. Mayer's. Figs. 1, 3, and' 6, are Saxon, \ 
though 6 may be Eoman.§ 



Common form of Knife-blade. 



XIII. KEYS.— Plates XYIII. XIX. 

1. Introduction. — It has been stated sarcastically, that the 
use of keys indicates a step in civilization — viz., the propensity 
to steal; but, without attributing to them a prohibitive 
purpose in every case, it is obvious that they are very ancient. 
The lock and key were known in Egypt, and they are alluded 
to in the Song of Solomon. There is also a Eoman lock and 
key in the interesting museum at Shrewsbury ; and among 
the ancients there were many such. In mediaeval times, • 
smithery was elegant and varied, in the construction of keys 
and of similar objects, showing great skill and power of 
invention on the part of the workers in metal. In general, 
the large keys were intended for doors, and the smaller for 

* C. E. S. "~j % J. Y. A. 

t Antiq. of Richborough, 99. § C. R. S. 



184 PAItT IT. — THE OBJECTS. 

coffers ; but it would be dangerous to announce a precise rule, 
as the two classes blended insensibly until it was impossible 
to distinguish them. 

,,,,,, __ -t, 2. Forms. — These include 

— v_^/ the ring or handle, and the 
wards. In the older keys, 
Early Key, without Bmg, the former was simply a 

hole like the eye of a bodkin, intended to admit a ring of 
wire ; but it was not used for leverage in locking and un- 
locking. Subsequently, it was square or round, or, as in 
modern times, elliptical. In a key which the Saviour holds 
in his hand in the painted window of Chetwode Church, 
Bucks,* both the ring and its aperture are lozenge or diamond- 
shaped. In the keys on the Episcopal Seal of York, it is 
diamond-shaped, but the aperture is cruciform. On the 
Episcopal Seals of Gloucester and Bristol, Peterborough and 
Hipon, it is a union of four circles, forming a rude cross both 




Key, with Hing, 

externally and internally. In some instances, as in that given 
by Worsase, the ring is filled with ornamental tracery, and 
occasionally this assumes definite shapes ; e. g., in the beautiful 
collection of Chamberlain's keys, in the possession of Octavius 
Morgan, Esq. The ring of these usually contains the cipher 
of the royal personage with the discharge of whose duties it 
was connected. For example, that of George Prince of Wales 
(1714—1727), contains G. P. W.; and that of Queen Caroline 
(1727 — 1700), contains C. 11 In many of the Roman keyfi 
the ring was actually worn on the finger. The shank disap- 

* Boutcll's Manual of Brit. Antiq., PL iv. 



KEYP. 



185 




pears, and the wards are at right angles to 
the ring, or in the direction of the length of 
the finger. Of the smaller keys shown here, 
one has the ring heart-shaped, and another 
diamond-shaped, while a third is circular 
externally, and divided by five trefoils within. 
Another has a circle and slit within an irregu- 
lar arch. The first is from Kent, and the other 

Brass Key, with heart- . -■ P Tin 

shaped Ring. three are irom Ireland. 
The shape of the wards was very varied. The ancient 
Danish keys resembled a piece of wire, or 
nail rod, bent into a rude curve at the end, 
and slightly cleft. In the older Saxon 
keys, the iron was bent at right angles, 
with one or two claws turned back in the 
direction of the shank, as in the first and 
second cuts in this article. In the key 
figured on an ancient coffer of the four- 
teenth century,* the wards resemble two 
bars inserted perpendicularly into the 
shaft, each of them having an outer one 
inserted in itself, and turned down parallel 
with itself. The stem of the key in Chet- 
wode church has six semicircular notches, 
three on each side, each of which is 
perforated by a plain cross. In the ancient 
arms of the Fishmongers' Company, the 
principal indentation is in the form of a 
Tau, or St. Anthony's cross. In the ancient 
key of Bromley church, Kent, figured in 
Hone's Table Book,-f* there are only two 
small indentations, at top and bottom 
respectively, of the wards. The keys figured in Guillim's 




Primitive Key, side view. 



* Wright's Arch. Essays, II,, PI. 
and ii. 



t Vol. II., p. 101. 



186 



PAHT II. — THE OBJECTS. 



Heraldry are indented in the form of saltire crosses, or by a 
single median line from the shaft outwards, with two short 
intersections. In the episcopal keys already noticed, the 
wards form crosses of various degrees of completeness, and 
the outward margins are indented, apparently according to the 
taste of the original designer. But keys of which the wards 
formed crosses were very common, especially before the 
Eeformation. In certain French and Italian keys, constructed 
about 1540, the front edge of the wards is split into flakes, 
almost like those of a thick metal comb. Sometimes two 
keys were united on one shank, the ring or handle being. in 
the middle of the shank, and the wards at both ends. In 
many of the ancient keys, the stem or shank was lengthened 
so as to project beyond the wards. See Tigs. 1 and 3, Plate 
XVIII. In the Mar chant's Tale, Chaucer represents the 
impress of a " silver cliket," or key, as being made in wax, for 
the forging of a duplicate. An interesting account of keys is 
given by Mr. Syer Cuming, in one of the volumes of the 
Journal of the Archaeological Association* 

3. Materials. — These were various ; but, for 
ordinary purposes, the larger ones were of iron, 
and the smaller of bronze, or some other alloy of 
copper. Bronze keys were found at Bichborough ; 
and Mr. Smith mentionsf that an English 
patentee found himself anticipated in some of 
his inventions, by 1500 years. 

The collection of London antiquities embraces 

There were 

also many in the Hertz collection, like ring-keys. Among the 
expenses of the Great Wardrobe of Edward III., 1345 to 1340, J 
are 100 keys of iron. There are forty specimens of bronze or 
brass keys in the collection of the Royal Irish Academy, § in 




Piped Door-key with 

T 8h w^ l ds! eb or numerous keys in bronze and iron. 



* XII., in. 

t Antiquities of Richborough, p. 



102. 



\ Arch., XXXL, 55. 

§ Wilde's Catalogue, p. 548, 540. 



XVIII 




FOB K HUM'S HOYLAKE ANT. 



IRON KEYS 



KEYS. 187 

which the Eoman form is denominated the latch or liftin 



o 




key. Six of them appear to be small, rude, flat keys, with no 
pipe, but with a small projection;* apparently 
like ours Eos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 7, Plate XIX. 
See Wards. Some of the ordinary ones had a 
pipe in the shaft, but this was rare. In the 
old ballad of Fause Foodrage (Motherwell's 
Minstrelsy, p. 131), four-and- twenty silver 
padiock-fcy. keys are represented as hanging high upon a 

pin; and in that of the Marchioness of Douglas, there is 

allusion to a "key of goud" [gold]. Chaucer speaks of 

a key of gold as follows : — 

Than of his aumener he drought 
A little key fetise inough 
Which was of gold polished clere. 

Eomaunt of the Rose. 

4. .How Worn. — In the Eoyal Museum at Copenhagen there 
are four keys suspended by a ring, which is divided into 
quadrants by a permanent cross, f The keys occupy two of 
these quadrants, and at the third there is the acus or tongue 
of a buckle, shewing that the bunch was designed to be 
suspended at the belt. In Strutt's Dress and Habits of the 
People of England 7 \ we actually see the key worn at the girdle 
of a female of the fifteenth century, the example being copied 
from a manuscript in the British Museum. On another plate, 
the ring and keys hang over the left arm, but they are separable, 
as one is held by itself in the right hand. § In the description 
of a Scottish woman of the middle of the sixteenth century, 
attributed to Dunbar, keys figure prominently. 

" Scho cleithis hir in ane kirtil of fyne reid ; 
Ane quhyt curchey scho puttis upon hir heid. 
Hir kyrtil was of silk, her keyis gingling syne, 
Within ane proud purs the reid gold did schyne. 

* Wilde, p. 551. J PI. cxvii. 

f Afbildninger, p. 93, fig. 361. § Strutt, Vol. III., PI., xvii. 



188 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



On ilkane fyngar scho weirit ringis tuo : 
Scho was als proud an ouy papingo." 

Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, II., 376. 

In Labarte's Handbook of the Middle Ayes, &c, is a picture 
from Albert Durer of the birth of John, 1510, in which a 
female is represented with a leathern strap round her waist, 
to which is attached a ring and keys. Keys have generally 
been found in the graves of women, as by Faussett in Kent, 
Mr. Akerman at Longwittenham in Berks, and others in 
various places. It has been noticed by several writers (among 
them Mr. Eoach Smith, Mr. Kolfe, and Mr. Akerman),* that 
keys were the insignia of office of the Saxon matron ; -f- and 
Ducange says that in case of divorce they were to be given 
up. Until recently, carrying the keys indicated the office of 
mistress or housekeeper among the middle ranks of English 
life. On incised slabs, they are supposed to be symbolical of 
the steward of a household, or the mayor of a corporate town. { 
The key is frequently found with shears ; sometimes two 
keys, as in the case of the chamberlain or treasurer of Here- 
ford, on his monument in the cathedral. § Keys are borne 
by the effigy of the apostle Peter, (Matt. xvi. 19,) and a sword 
by that of Paul. Taylor, the water poet, in his Suddaine 
Tnrne of Fortune's Wheel, 1631, says : — 

The keys of Peter, and the sword of Paul, 
Shall shut and open, cutt in pieces all. 

5. Keys in the present Collection. — These are 31 in all, viz., 
12 of iron || (Plate XVIIL), and 19f of brass or bronze (Plate 
XIX.) Of the examples engraved on Plate XVIIL, figs. 1 and 3 
appear to have had triangular rings; and of the two small 
ones, the ring of fig. 4 is circular both externally and inter- 
nally, and that of fig. 5 is circular internally and lozenge- 



* Archaeologia, XXXVIII., 
and 848. 

f Inventorium Scpulchralc, xli. 

% Cutts, ]•. 1 1. 

| Boutell'l Manual, p. 116. 



331 



|| Of these, 7 belong to Mr. Smith 
and 5 to Mr. Mayer. 

% Of these, 12 belong to Mr. Mayer, 
S to Mr. Smith, 1 to Mrs. Longueville, 
and l to myself. 




J.E.WOBRALL LITH: 



OR D? HUMES HOVLAKE ANT 



SMALL KEYS, &c- 




KEYS. 189 

shaped externally. The shanks of 1 and 3 are solid 

throughout ; those of 4 and 5 are hollow or 

" piped." In fig. 3, the wards are cruciform ; in 

fig. 1 they consist of three parallel slits, at right 

angles to the shank, the middle being the deepest, 

and reaching to the shank. Fig. 2 is peculiar, but 

it is scarcely doubted that it has served for a key. 

At the top of the shank of fig. 1, and near the smaii-pipea Key. 

ring, there appears to be the remains of slight ornamentation. 

Fig. 3 is from Mr. Smith's collection, and the rest from 

Mr. Mayer's. These large keys are comparatively modern ; 

but some of them may be Saxon. * 

Some of the smaller keys, Plate XIX., are very primitive in 
construction. Figs. 2 and 3 are simply cut out of the sheet 
metal, and perforated at the top of the shank ; the two or 
three projections which form the wards being bent to right or 
left. Fig. 1 is formed of thin metal, beaten up into the rude 
form of a key ; the seam or junction being very visible 
throughout its entire length. A hole is punched as before at 
the one end, to form a ring ; and the two folds of metal 
appear to have been rudely riveted to give strength to the 
part answering for wards. The key, Fig. 7, is precisely similar 
in structure, but smaller. Both of them are piped, or left 
hollow in the shank. Fig. 4 is formed somewhat like 2 and 
3, but of double metal ; and 5 and 6 are modern keys, ana- 
logous to 4 and 5 on Plate XVIII. 

Of the objects engraved, Fig. 2 is from Mr. Smith's collection, 7 
from Mrs. Longueville's, 8 from my own, and the remaining 
six from Mr. Mayer's. Some of these small keys may be 
Ptoman ;f and Fig. 2 is Saxon. J Others may be of the reign 
of Edward I ; § and Fig. 9 is mediaeval. || 



* C. R. S. 
t C. R. S. 
X C. R. S. 



§ J. Y. A. 
II A. W. F. 



19 I 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




6. Locks. — Among these objects no locks have 
been found ; but figures 8 and 9, Plate XIX., 
indicate the escutcheons of locks adapted to 
smaller keys than any shown here. There are 
eight such objects in all, of brass or some other 
alloy of copper. A Eoman padlock has been found 
fSaSSb^vom. at Uriconium, and is now in the Museum at 
Shrewsbury, besides several keys. It is evident that the 
locks were still more curious in their structure than the keys. 
While the names of numerous trades and occupations have 
passed away from us, we still preserve the word " lock- 
smith," though it would appear from Neckam,* that in the 
twelfth century only pendent locks for doors were known. 

In the Shicttleio'orth Accounts of May, 1603/f mention is made 
of a plate lock for the highmost tower door ; and numerous 
others, such as horse locks, 
hinge, and stock locks are 
mentioned. In the temporary 
exhibition at the South Ken- 
sington Museum, curious locks 
and keys were shown belong- 
ing to Stoneyhurst College, 
Sir P. Burrell, Bart,, and Philip Hardwicke, Esq. The lock 
of a casket, with a brass or bronze front plate, was found 
among some Saxon burial-places in Nottinghamshire. 

The liisp of Scotland and the North of England, was 
properly the ancient knocker or bell. It was like a large 

'perpendicular handle, ten or 
twelve inches long, projecting 

from the deer about two or 
three inches. It was roughened 
by knobs or notches on the 
inner side; and from it de- 
pended a large twisted ring. 
Dhe person a seking admission 





^. 




f"]~" 




-<y 


-. i /I 




1 *f 
« l\ 

1 \\^^ 






J' 1 ! / ! 

.*=L — :^J 




1 * '. 







Plate Lock, outsile. 




> a I 



Maj ' Vocabularies, p. 110. t Shuttleworth Accounts, p. 151 



XIX A 




' 



KEYS. 191 

rattled this up and down, producing a discordant noise, as 
loud as that of a modern knocker. Hence the expressions in 
old poetry, " tirled at the pin," or " tinkled at the ring ;" 
illustrations of which may be found in the popular ballads of 
Young Bekie, Fair Annie, Willie and May Margaret, Young 
Johnstone, Johnnie Scott, Earl Richard, Lady Marjorie, &c. 

When she came to young Beichan's gate, 

She tirled saftly at the pin ; 
So ready was the proud porter 

To open and let this lady in. 

Jamieson. — Young Beichan and Susie Pye. 




Bolt, showing holes for pr'ckat wards of Key. 

In February, 1849, a paper on the "Ancient Modes of 
Fastening Doors," was read before the Historic Society of 
Lancashire and Cheshire, by Edward Higgin, Esq. It is 
printed in the Society's Transactions, Vol. II., pp. 57 — 68. 
Two of the three etchings which illustrated it are given here, 
to afford means of comparison with our English fastenings. 

PLATE XIX. A. 

Fig. 1 — Door-fastening (Bolt), from an ancient Egyptian house in 

Alexandria. 
„ 2 —Door-fastening from a tomb at Thebes ; iron bolts above and 

below, and wooden bars across. 
„ 3 — Ornamental Plate, to cover a perpendicular bolt, from Pompeii. 
„ 4, 5, 7 — Ancient Keys, from Mr. Roach Smith's Collectanea 

Antiqucc. 
„ G — Peculiar Key. 

„ 8 — Iron Latch Key, from Caer Leon, piped — Roman. • 
„ 9 — Latch Key, piped. 
„ 10— Supposed form of Key given to Roman women at their 

marriage. 
,, 11— Egyptian Key, resembling F., Plate XIX. B. 



192 



P..ET II. — THE OBJECTS. 



PLATE XIX. B. 

fig. 2 — Egyptian Lock, such as has been in use for 4000 years — from 
Denon. 

„ 1— Analysis of the above. The bolt (A) slides in a cross-bar (B), 
in which are pins (D) which fall down into holes (E), when 
the lock is shut. These are made in the upper side of the 
bolt (A). A key (F), with corresponding points, is intro- 
duced by the orifice (C), and lifts them up, so that the bolt 
can be withdrawn. 

„ 3— Celtic Lock, of wood, in the Museum of the Society of Anti- 
quaries, Edinburgh. 

M 4 — Chinese Lock. The wings and tail of the bird conceal the 
link that opens and shuts. 

„ 5 — Padlock and Key, found in a tomb at Rome. 

„ G— Chinese Lock, well known in England. 



XIV.— COFFERS AND COFFER MOUNTING.— Plate XX. 

1. Introduction. — In the clays of our ancestors, when many 
modern conveniences were unknown, boxes, chests, and coffers 
were even more necessary than they are now. In the Ex- 
penses of the Great Wardrobe of Edward III., mention is 
made of eight pairs of boxes of iron ;* and in the same docu- 
ment, ten pairs of large coffers for the offices of the chamberf 
are spoken of. Allusion is made to a pair of small coffers 
also. At another part of it we read of three pairs of large 
coffers, also for use in the chamber.t 

Some of these, no doubt, were like the large wooden chest 
called an ark,§ still an important article of furniture in many 
farm-houses. Several of the treasures of James III. of Scot- 
land, were "fundin in a bandit kist like a garde viant," 1488; 
including knives, coin, plate, and " King Robert Bruce's serk."|| 
Chaucer, in the Clerkes Tale, uses the word "cofre"as nearly 



• Arch»ol., XXXI., 43. 
t lb., p. 77. 
X II)., p- 13. 

§ In the Chester Mystery Flays, 
Noah'8 Ark is called his " chest," and 



the Sacred Ark of the Israelites was 
evidently a chest or box. 

|| Sec Scott's notes to the Lord of 
the Isles, Canto v., where other cu- 
rious coffers are noticed. 



XIX B. 





ft s 



cjfl / r) cdqQon. ! 



a 



ANCIENT LOCKS 



COFFERS AND COFFER MOUNTING. 193 

equivalent to coffin; except that the box was intended to 
carry a living child. Two are alluded to among the ward- 
robe stuff of Katherine of Arragon, in 1535,* thus : — 

Item, one lytille broken coofar of iverye, garnysshid with iningerye, 
having a handille, locke, and jemewis of silver. 

Item, one cofar covered with crymsen velvette, garnysshid with gilte 
nayles, having foure tilles therein, the fore fronte of every of them 
gilte. 

2. Examples. — In our days the word coffer has nearly be- 
come obsolete ; but it is still heard in connexion with money, 
as indicating its place of deposit. It was used in the same 
sense, and no doubt in other senses also, in the time of Shak- 

speare.f 

And, for our coffers are grown somewhat light, 

"We are enforced to farm our royal realm. 

The lining of his| coffers shall make coats 
To deck our soldiers for those Irish wars. 

It appears, also, from the Nominate of the fifteenth century, 
that the Cassarius, or case-maker, was then a separate trade, 
probably like our trunk-maker or cabinet-maker. 

(a.) In 1767, the remains of a box were discovered at King- 
ston Down, in a woman's grave, at the foot of the coffin. It 
is supposed to have been like a modern tea-chest. § One of 
its iron hinges is given here, 




and the hasp and handle will 

be readily recognised at then ' ~^ e fr0 "^g^ ^-jm.^. 
proper places from being engraved in outline. (&.) In another 
grave, near the same place, a box was discovered || with its 
contents, which are enumerated below.^f One of its hinges of 
brass remained, with one of the nails clenched, showing that 



* Camden Miscel., III. 40. 

t Richard II., i., 4. 

t John of Gaunt's. 

§ Inventorium Sepulchrale, p. 48. 

II lb., p. 67. 

^ An ivory comb, a brass armilla, 
a bead, a piece of bone on a ring, an 
Indian cowrie shell, a brass buckle, 



some blue stone, resin, three knives, 
a fourth knife in a brass sheath, a pair 
of shears, a silver hasp or catch, a 
chatellaine, some links of a chain, an 
ivory bead, &c, &c. This was a 
woman's grave, and she appears to 
have been a person of distinction. 







194 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

the thickness of the wood was between half an inch and three 




Brass hinge and clenched naiL 

quarters, (c.) In another woman's grave, in the same locality, 
a pair of brass hinges were found, 
one of which, half size, is shown 
in the accompanying cut ; and (d) 
a smaller pair still, of iron, were 
found at GiltOn-town, with nu- 
merous other articles inside the 
coffin. The back and front view Brass Mn s e > hm size ' M 

01 one of them are both shown. 





Iron hinge, two-thirds size, (<l) 

The mode of mounting such boxes may also be seen from 
the specimens discovered in ancient graves. Here are two 
iron corner pieces, which were found as usual in a woman's 

grave. Each contains a couple 
of rivets bent at right angles, 
and showing the thickness of 
the wood. They are drawn to 
half the actual scale. They 
resemble the fastenings on the 
comers of a modern writing- 
desk, or rather the sheet iron 
protecting the corners of a 
school black board. Corner 
troneonur-piecei. pieces of a different form have 




COFFERS AND COFFER MOUNTING. 



195 




iron corner. 



bean found, as in the remains of a box (e), one of five inches 

in length, narrowed to the two points, each of which contained 

a rivet. Several of these 

were found in connection 

with other portions of boxes 

or coffers, which are shown 

separately ; and by means of 

letters each can readily be 

identified. At Caumartin, 

near Crecy in France, an 

iron coffer was discovered, which was protected by straps and 

studs. It had also iron feet. When the coffer was of wood, 

leather, or other soft material, and when it was in itself a 

valuable article of property, such protection was especially 

necessary. 

The handle by which one was carried was usually on the 
top, not two at the opposite ends ; a fact which shows that in 
general they were light and 
small. Sometimes the fittings 
were not all of the same 
metal, as in the case of box H anai e of coffer &g 

(b) ; and in another (/) there was an iron handle for the top, with 
a brass hasp and staple, as shown here. The actual handle 
was three and a half inches long, or of a sufficient size to be 
grasped by the hand The fastening by means of staples was 

peculiarly well suited 

for the hanging lock V 

or padlock, which 

was then much in 

use. Here is another 

of brass, in its actual 

Iron Handle and Brass Staple (/.) position, anSWding 

to the butterfly hinge shown above, from box 
(c). It would appear as if box (a) had been 

W L L K ' Hasp of Box. 






196 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

closed by a hook and eye, the 

former in front of the lid, and the 

latter in front of the box ; its form 

is shown as before, of half the 

Hook of coffer («o actual size. Two other hooks have 

been discovered, the exact nses of which are unknown. They 

are not uniform either in size or appearance, and they must 




have been fixed in permanent f"%jf l \jf* 

positions. They were found l^ ™ 




Jong with a knife, and mime 
rous small pieces of iron ; and, 
no doubt were fastenings of a 
somewhat similar kind. Brass HookB) 

The mode of strengthening such coffers has been noticed ; 
and, no doubt, the cassarius had modes of procedure which 
were in a great degree uniform. In Mr. Wright's Archaeo- 
logical Essays* is depicted an ivory casket of the fourteenth 
century, the bands and clasps on which bear considerable 
resemblance to those in the present collection. Also various 
coffers are noticed as having been exhibited to the Society of 
Antiquaries in the Proceedings, Vols. I., II., and III. But an 
example still more in point is given in the Journal of the 
Archaeological Association^ where a German tilting helmet is 
engraved. It is made of leather, or cuir oouilli, and 
strengthened with narrow bars of metal, having knobs and 
points precisely like those in Plate XXL, figs. 1, 5, and 12. 
Several such helmets are represented in illuminated manu- 
scripts, but they are naturally very rare. This one is supposed 
to be of the fifteenth century. The vant braces and cuisses of 
King l^i 'lie of Provence were formed of cuir bouilli, "Garni 
de lames d'acier." 

".. Il< mains in this Collection. — Of the objects engraved on 
Plate XXL, fig. 11 is thicker and stronger than the others, 
ami is slightly bevelled. It may, therefore, have been a strap 

» Vol. II., p. 88. | f Vol. III., p. 59. 




' Ml ANT. 



J E.WORRALL.Li 



.yOUNTTNG. 



IMPLEMENTS OF ARCHERY. 



197 



tag.* Figs. 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, are all coffer handles of 
various sizes and types ; and in different degrees of preserva- 
tion. They are not very different from the drawer handles or 
mountings of comparatively modern times. To fig. 2 are 
attached two slips of metal, between the folds of which 
leather appears to have been inserted. 

Fig. 14 appears to be the foot of a coffer,f larger perhaps than 
those to which the smaller objects belong ; and there are two 
or three others, but all of different types. Of several coffers 
exhibited at the South Kensington Museum, 1862, most of 
them of the twelfth century, there was one called the Shrine 
of St. Manchan, or St. Monaghan. It is mounted in gilt 
bronze, and stands on four legs, each of which has had a 
strong brass ring attached to it of three inches diameter, for 
the insertion of staves to carry it. J 

The collection contains 47 handles in all, 3 feet, and 9 
pieces of mounting, all of which are of brass. Of these, 9 
belong to Mr. Smith, 17 to Mr. Mayer, and 33 to myself. Of 
those which are engraved, figs. 3, 7, 9, 10, 14, represent objects 
in Mr. Mayer's collection ; fig. 2 was one of the early objects, 
and all the rest are types in my own possession. 



XV.— IMPLEMENTS OF ARCHERY.— Plate XXI. 

1. Bows. — The bow, like the sword, is one of the oldest 
instruments of warfare in existence. It was familiarly known 
to the Assyrians and Jews, and to the other nations of anti- 
quity, but they did not all regard it as of equal importance. 
It was an important instrument with the Parfchians and 
Scythians ; it was of less consequence with the Greeks ; and 
it was of quite secondary importance among the Romans. 
Perhaps the reason was, that at all times it was better adapted 
for light troops than for the ordinary heavy soldiers. 



* Probably the hinge or mounting 
of a leather box.— A. W. F. 

f Perhaps the foot of a little pot. — 



C.R.S. 

I For a full description, see the 
Catalogue, No. 899, p. 47. 



198 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



It is said that the shape of the bow is derived from the 
graceful curve of the horns of some of our quadrupeds. This 
is the origin ascribed by Homer * to the bow of Pandarus, 
and the theory has been taken up by some of our modern f 
archaeologists; but it is more reasonable to infer that the 
primitive bow was a single arch, and hence its name {circus). 
There have since been many forms ; and two New Zealand 
bows in my own possession are like straight wands, which 
require to be forcibly bent before the string can be properly 
placed in the notches prepared for it. 

The bow is said to have been introduced for warlike pur- 
poses by the Normans ; but it is clear that archery was known 
in this country centuries before their time. The Saxons killed 
birds with the bow, employed it in the chase, and slew their 
enemies in battle. The long-bow was six feet long, but not 
unfrequently the bows were short and the arrows long. The 
Irish archer was to have a bow " of his own length, and one 
fistmele (hand-breadth) at least between the neckes." % 

Bows and arrows were used by our English soldiers so late 
as the time of Queen Elizabeth ;§ but during her long reign 
they were practically discontinued. They were used still 
more recently by the Highland clans ; but the superiority in 
archery belonged to England so long as the practice existed. 
l\\ the old ballad of Chevy Chase, the English are throughout 
described as archers, and the Scotch as spearmen.il Lancashire 
and Cheshire were noted for their bowmen ; and by means of 
these the tide of battle was turned at Flodden field, in 1513. 



* 'Twas form'd of horn, and smooth'd with artful toil, 
A mountain goat resign'd the shining spoil, 
Who pierced long since beneath his arrows bled; 
The stately quarry on the cliffs lay dead, 
And sixteen palms his brow's large honours spread; 
The workman join'd. and shaped the bended horns, 
And beaten gold each tape r point adorns. 

rope. Iliad, It., 187-1 13. 

t Paper by II. Syer Cuming. 
Journal of Archaeological Assoc, 
III. S3. 

X In h Statutes, B Ed. IV., chap. 



§ The sharp steel-pointed arrows, 
And bullets thick did fly ; 
So did our valiant soldiers 

Charge on most furiously. 
O. B. Lord WiUoughby.—Per. ML, II.. 243. 
|| Then the Perse out of Bamborowe cam, 

With him a myghtyc meany; 
With fifteen hondrith arobarea bold; 
The wear ohosen out of shyars thre. 
****** 

The wear twenty hondrith spearmen good 

Withoutcn any f.iyle; 
The wear borne a-long be the wattor o' Twyde 

Yth bowudes of Tividale. 

Perry's RtHquei, L, 5, 6. 



IMPLEMENTS OF ARCHERY. 



199 



The following are allusions to the subject : — 
Our Englishmen full egerly 

attilde them to shott ; 
Skochen the cruell Scottes 
with their kene arrowes. 

The Scottish Field. Chet, Misc., II. 
The Englishmen their feathered flights 

Sent out anon from sounding bow, 
Which wounded many warlike wights, 

And many a groom to ground did throw. 
The grey goose wing did work such grief, 

And did the Scots so scour and skail ; 
For in their battle to be brief, 

They rattling flew as rank as hail. 

O. B. Flodden Field, 1. 1949-1955. 
Wide raged the battle on the plain, 
Spears shook and falchions flashed amain, 
Fell England's arrow flight like rain. 

Scott. Marmioiiy vi. 26. 
The costume which was worn in this part of the country by 
the archers was blue,* as may be seen in the figures repre- 
sented in the painted window in Middleton Church ; but the 
forest outlaws, a century or two previous, delighted in the 
green cloth of Lincoln or of Kendal, by which they were 
better concealed in the woods. 

The surname Archer belongs to the north of England ; and 
most of those who bear the name trace their ancestry from 
Berwick-on-Tweed, There were other surnames connected 
with the practice, such as Fletcher,-)* Bowyer, Bowmaker, &c. 
Allusion is made to some of these trades in Kowley's old 
play, Match at Midnight : — 



* In 1553, the hundred of West 
Derby raised 430 men, of whom the 
proportion for Liverpool was 4 ; and, 
in 1567, the foot soldiers from the 
southern hundreds of the shire " re- 
paired to this town, and from hence 
to Chester, all in blue uniform ; re- 
turned after passing muster, and 
embarked for the north of Ireland 



with 650 horsemen." — Annals of 
Liverpool. 

f A featherer of arrows, sometimes 
a maker of arrows generally. "On 
the day after St. George's Day (24th 
April), 1530, the king's fletcher was 
paid 20s. for arrowes which he had 
supplied to my lord of Richmond." — . 
Cam. Misc., III., lix. 



200 



FART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



Her miud runs sure upon a fletcher or a bowyer, howsoever I'll 
inform against both ; the fletcher for taking whole money for his 
pieced arrows, &c. 

Like other words,* the term archer survived long after the 
practice had been abandoned ; thus Cotgrave writes in 1650 — 
" Archer, a warder in a town or fortresse, whose weapon, at 
this day a halberd, was in old time a bow and arrowes." 

The materials of archery varied with the forest-trees | of the 
district; but bows of yew;j; and arrows of aspen are frequently 
alluded to ; and Spenser enumerates the purposes,§ including 
these, to which the various trees of the forest were subservient. 
About the time of Kichard I., the bow was of hazel. || 

The crossbow was a variety of structure which gave 
greater force and better direction, though it could not be 
employed with the same rapidity. The crossbow-man, 
whom we find among the military of the thirteenth century, 
discharged bolts and quarrels ; and sometimes the object 
discharged was intended to be broken on reaching its object, 
and it was filled with lime or some other burning material.^" 

Fig. 9 is the bolt of a crossbow. In the old Scottish ballad 
of Peblis to the Play, written about 1457, a young man is re- 
presented as equipped with a crossbow and bolt*"* on May-day. 



* In the same way a bowman was 
rrtlled bakarius, though properly that 
meant a slinger, originally from the 
Balearic isles ; and we still speak of 
a grenadier, though the grenade is not 
in use. In like manner, we may con- 
tinue to speak of a sheriff's attendants 
as javelin men, long after the use of 
that weapon has ceased. 

t The bowes of ewe, wych-hassell, 
ashe, awhurne, or any other reason- 
able tree, according to their power 
arid the shafts in the same manner. — 
Insh Stat. 5, Ed. IV. 

', [fever thou comes! to thy command, 

our wardens inii need to keep good order; 

$w to a haael wand, 
Thonltmakc then work upon dir border. 
Bcolt, Lay ivi.ih MhutrtL 



§ The laurell.meed of mightie conquerours 

And poets sage; the fine that weepeth still; 

The willow, worne of forlome paramours; 

The evtgh, obedient to the bender's will; 

The birch for shaftes, the sallow for the mill; 

The mii-re sweete-bleeding in the bitter wound; 

The warlike beech; the ashe for nothing ill; 

The fruitfull olive ; and the platane round ; 
The carver holme; the maple seldom inward sound. 
Faery Queene, I. i. 9. 

|| Meyrick, 90. 
f Ibid., 155. 

** Ane young man stert into that stcid, 
Als cant as any colt, 
Ane birkin hat upon his heid, 
With ane bow and ane bolt; 
Said, mirrie madinis think not lang; 
The wedder is fair and smolt. 
He cleikit up ane hie ruf sang, 
" Thair fure ane man to the holt," &e . 

His song appears to have sailed 
his circumstances — "There went a 
man to the greenwood." 



Ill 




FOR D« HUME'S KOYLAKE ANT. 



J E.WORRALL.UTH-. 



IMPLEMENTS OE WAR AND THE CHASE 



IMPLEMENTS OF ARCHERY. 



201 



The earlier crossbows had an iron loop at the top, into 
which the archer placed his foot, in order to gain force while 
drawing the string back to its place ; but machinery was 
afterwards devised for the purpose. I possess a Chinese cross- 
bow, in which this is arranged with great simplicity. By 
raising a lever with the right hand, the groove moves upwards 
and lays hold of the string, the arrow at the same time 
dropping down in front of it ; and, by depressing the hand, a 
trigger is raised which discharges the arrow. Six arrows are 
first laid in a receptacle prepared for them, and the bow is 
placed in position resting on the left thigh of a horseman ; 
the six arrows can then be discharged in less than as many 
seconds. 

The crossbow was frequently used for shooting at birds, 
for the bolt was so blunt that it did not lacerate ; * and 
occasionally a man was knocked from his horse in the same 
way without sustaining serious injury. In the Lytell Geste of 
Robyn Hode, the monk is represented as brought to the ground 

in this way : — 

Much was redy with a bolte, 

Redly and a none, 
He set the monke to fore the brest, 
To the ground that he can gone.t 

GutcKsB.. H., I. 181. 
The " featherless bolt," as it was called, has given us a 
variety of expressions all connected with itself. Thus : the 
lightning is a bolt, because rapid in its flight ; and any thing 
which is straight is bolt-upright. % The bolt of a door is shot 
out ; bran is bolted or shot out from the mill ; and food is 
bolted or rapidly shot down. § 



* Bird-bolts, blunt, pointless arrows 
to kill birds without piercing them. — 
Glossary to Massinger's Plays. 

Or if thou wilt goe shoote at little birds, 
With bow and boult, the thrustle-cocke and 
s-.sarrow, 
Such as our countrey hedges can afford, 
I hare a fine bowe and an ivorie arrowe. 

Barn fields Afftc. Shep., p. 16. 

t In the modern version by the 



Rev. John Eagles, it is given thus : — 

Mutch then was ready with a bolt, 

Anon which so he sent, 
That he hit the monk right on the breast; 

And unto the ground he went. 

Gutch, I., 260. 

+ Chaucer has bolt-upright for lying 
straight in bed. — Cant.Tal.es, 1. 13, 246. 
§ Dean Iloare on English Roots. 



202 



PAST II. — THE OBJECTS, 



2. Arrows. — The ordinary arrow-head is well-known, though 
at all times there was more or less variety in its structure. 
At first it was inserted in a slit of the shaft ; * and the Skele- 
ton in Armour discovered in America, and already alluded to, 
had copper arrows with heads of a peculiar construction. 
" Each was ahout an inch and a half long, by an inch broad 
at the base, and had a round hole in the centre to fasten 
it to the shaft. They were rather thicker than sheathing 
copper, quite sharp, not barbed, the sides concave, and the 
base square." -J- Afterwards the head was made hollow, and 
it was considered better to insert the shaft in it ; and figs. 1 
and 4, on Plate XXL, appear to have been constructed 
in this way. The annexed woodcut represents a 
conical arrow-head of bone, three inches long, from 
the collection of the Eoyal Irish Academy. It is 
slightly ornamented ; and the hole by which it was 
attached to the wood is visible. 

The large central arrow, fig. 6, Plate XXI., is a 
.pheon, or broad arrow, { examples of which appear in 
the arms of Egerton of Cheshire, and uf sevar'a r 
English families. Another was found in 1862. § In 
Bon L A uT w ' the old English ballad of Adam Bell, Clym of the 
Clough, and William of Clondesley, the last named is repre- 
sented as cleaving the apple on his son's head with a broad 
arrow ;fl an achievement which is also ascribed to William 
Tell. In the Biblia Sacra, 1519, a woodcut represents Esau 
as shooting with a broad arrow to procure the venison for his 



* Guide to Northern Archaeology, 
Ellesmere, p. 51. 

t Schoolcraft, I., 128. 

X Hee catepulta, a hroad arrow. — 
Mayer's Vocab., p. 196. There is the 
representation of one at Cashel; and 
one is represented as piercing a wild 
animal ( 'arfer, p. 87. 

Strictly Bpeaking, thepbeon differed 
from the broad arrow, by having its 
barbi serrated on tlic inner side, and 



broader at their extremities than at 
the top. This distinction was not 
always kept up in speech or writing. 
§ See Heliquary, iv. 32. 

|| There he drew out a fayr brode arrowe, 

Hys bowe wa9 great and longe, 
lie set that arrowe in his bowe, 

That was bothe styffe and strong*, 
Ami aondesle elefte the apple la two 

His sonc he did not nee, 
Over Gods forbode, sayde the kinge, 
That thou sholde thote at me. 

l\rcij's BtW g iHt , I., 1?P, 1M. 



IMPLEMENTS OF ARCHERY. 



203 



father; and in the old ballad of Sir Andrew Barton, the 
pirate's nephew, James Hambilton, is shot through the heart 
with a broad arrow.* In the Skuttleworth Accounts, under 
date September 1592, we find its cost — "a brode arrowe 
heide, ij d ." 

As contrasted with these, we learn that there was a species 
of small arrows called sprights, " formerly used in sea-fights, 
which had wooden heads made sharp. These were discharged 
out of musquets, and passed through the sides of a ship where 
bullets could not enter." -f- This was not the sort of artillery 
employed by the naval archers under Lord Howard, in the 
early years of Henry VIII., who employed only the broad 
arrow and the " bearing arrow ; "J nor do we find them used by 
Eobin Hood in defending the vessel of the Scarborough fisher- 
men^ 

The arrow was not necessarily barbed ; and among 
the American Indians, the Chinese, and others who 
still use it, few are so at this day. But the heads 
were hard, and often of brightly polished metal. 
.In the Lyttcll Geste || it is said — 

Au hondred sliefe of arrowes good 
The hedes burnysked full bryght ; 

and the prophet Jeremiah, in treating of the destruction of 
Babylon, says^f — " Make bright the arrows, gather the shields," 
i. e. 3 prepare for attacking. 

The arrow which was discharged by the long-bow was 
called a shaft ; and it is in relation to the two great classes of 
arrows that we have the proverbial expression quoted by 
Shakspeare — " I'll make a shaft or a bolt on't." ** The archers 
in Ireland were obliged to prepare " twelve shafts of the 




* Percy's Reliques, II., 209. 

+ Bailey's Diet. 

X Carrying well ; or perhaps a bir- 
ring or whizzing arrow. See Gloss. 
to Percy, Vol. I., and the 0. B. of Sir 
Andrew Barton. 



§ The Noble Fisherman ; or, Robin 
Hood's preferment, Ritson. 
|| FyttelL; Gutch, I., 165. 
1 Jerem. li. 11. 
** Merry Wives, iii., 4. 



204 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



length of three quarters of the standard ; " * but in England 
they were usually three feet, or even a yard and a quarter. 
There are numerous allusions to these facts in our older 
literature. 

Meyrick says, that about the time of Eichard I. the shaft 
was made of a reed ; and specimens from America, so con- 
structed, are common at present. One, which was discovered 
in an Anglo-Saxon grave in Kent, appears to have been of 
reed;f and one of the 

length of the whole is two 

inches. In Remains of Anglo-Saxon Arrow. the ItOyal 

Irish Academy there are several brass or bronze arrows with 
thin flat heads, spear-shaped ; { and with " strigs " or " tangs " 
for insertion in the shaft. On the other hand, spears are 
sometimes arrow-shaped; for, on an ancient slab in Sligo 
Abbey, of date 1566, representing the crucifixion, a female on 
the left side of the cross is piercing the Saviour's side with a 
barbed arrow held in her left hand. § Annexed is the head of 
an arrow with tang, having apparently a small portion of 
wood adhering to it. 




Arrow-head for insertion in the Shaft. 

One of ours, fig. 3, appears to have been of this kind, but 
the nail part is broken off. The Abbe Cochet gives several 
shapes as having been in use in Normandy; some with broad 



* [rish Statutes, 5 Ed. IV. 

Hi' luul a bow bent in his hand, 

Blade (if a trusty tree; 
An arrow of a cloth -yard long, 

i i' i" it"' head .iiiw bee. 

Chrry Chase, Mod. Hal. 

When, rattling upon Floddan rale, 
I i jrardairowa Bewlike hall, 

Scott, Htmrmion, v. l. 
At Dart ford, in 1496, the arrows of 



the Cornish insurgents " were in length 
a full cloth yard." — Holinshed. 
And every arowe an elle longe, 
Willi pococke well y flight 

Guteh't R. ff., I., 1G1. 

t Inv. Sep., 41. 

X Wilde's Catalogue, p. 503. 

§ Cutts, Plate lxxxiii. 



IMPLEMENTS OF AECHERY. 



205 



flukes like our jpheon, and others with sockets long and 
hollow like miniature spear-heads. * One of this kind, found 
in the grave of a child, is believed to have been a model or 
toy, and never actually employed with a bow ; like the small 
implements which are frequently found in Denmark, Germany, 
and elsewhere ; and like the " baby celts " of Ireland. 



Arr^w-head, probably a Toy. 



3. General Notes. — Not unfrequently twelve arrows were 
stuck under the girdle; and hence the proverb, that an 
Englishman carried twelve Scotchmen under his belt, or 
occasionally twenty-four f were borne, with a corresponding 
difference in the saying.J These were carried in many ways, 
owing, no doubt, to differences in locality and in time. They 
are represented as worn over the left shoulder and over the 
right, at the right side of the belt and at the left, with the 
points projecting forward, and with the feathered ends for- 
ward. These may be seen in the ordinary illustrations ; but 
it is interesting to notice that the archers of this part of the 
country carried them with the points directed behind, so that 
the feathers appeared to cover the left breast. § 

Occasionally they were borne in a quiver, which was pen- 
dent, like the dagger, at either the right or left side ; the 
earliest specimens of which appear to have been of basket 
work. Esau is directed to take his weapons, his quiver and 
his bow, and go out to the field ; || and of the horse it is said in 
Job, " the quiver rattleth against him, the glittering spear, and 
the shield."^" In LayarcVs Illustrations there are numerous 



* La Normandie Souterraine, p. 22. 

t He's taen four-and-twenty braid arrows, 
And laced them in a whang, ; 
And he's awa to Lady Margerie's bower, 
As fast as he can gang, O. 

Motherwell, p. 371. 

"The Scottish, according to As- 
cham, had a proverb, that every Eng- 
lish archer carried under his belt 



twenty-four Scots, in allusion to his 
bundle of unerring shafts." — Scott. 

X Planche, 445. 

§ Painting in the window of Mid- 
dleton Church, Lancashire. 

|| Genesis xxvii., 3. 

% Job xxix., 23. 



200 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



quivers shown, and of very different degrees of excellence. 
Some, which lie scattered on the battle-field, are rude cases, 
with one large handle through which the belt passed ; others, 
which are attached to the war-chariot, cross each other at 
right angles, each being inclined at an angle of 45°, and they 
are beautiful in appearance and elaborate in construction. 
The quiver was certainly used in Lancashire, and no doubt 
in Cheshire also, for we read in the ShuttlewortJi Accounts in 
May, 1588 :— 

towe shipe skynes to be an arrowe casse, x*. 

The archer of the mediaeval period was like the rifleman of 
our own ; and every parish had its butts, at which all within 
the military age were obliged to practise shooting. In the 
Pictorial History of England, there is represented shooting at 
the butts with the crossbow;* but bows of various kinds were 
used. When Humphrey Brereton, a native of Malpas in 
Cheshire, carried the message and gold of Lord Derby, and 
the love tokens of the Princess Elizabeth, over the seaf to 
[Richmond, in the reign of Eichard III., the porter of the 
abbey where the future king of England was staying, directed 
him to the shooting butts. J Curiously enough, the porter also 
was a Cheshire man.§ 



* II. 870, from a painting in Boy. 
MSS. 19 C. viii. 

t Without all doubt at Liverpoole, 
He took shipping upon the sea. 

The Song ofLidy Bessy, p. 23. 
i I shall thee tell, said the Porter then, 

The Prince of England know shall ye, 
Low where he sitteth at the butts certaine, 

With other lords two or three ; 
lie weareth a gown of velvet black, 
And it is cutted above the knee.— lb., p. 28. 

In 1498, Fin sbuvy-fi elds were con- 
verted into archery ground, and from 
a MS. in the collection of the Society 
Of Antiquaries, it appears that there 
\' re at "lie time 197 separate sets of 
■hooting butts. The names and posi- 
tions of most of them are given (Pro- 
ceedings IV., 53,6c.), with numerous 
dctaili respecting the practice. The 



distances varied from eight score (160) 
3 r ards, to twenty-one score (420), but 
these were extremes. Persons of 
twenty-four years of age were obliged 
to shoot at objects 220 yards distant ; 
but by great strength and skill the 
arrow was occasionally sent much 
farther. One man shot a mile (1760 
yards) at three flights, but this was a 
remarkable case. Between Bunhill- 
fields burying-ground and Finsburv 
Square, London, E.C., is a space still 
shown as the artillery-ground, the only 
relic of the clearance made in 149S. 

§ The porter was a Cheshire man. 
Well he know Humphrey when he him soe. 
lb. p. ;•:. 



IMPLEMENTS OF ABCHEBY. 207 

The formality of shooting is well depicted by Bishop Gawin 
Douglas in his Paleys of Honour : — 

And natheles, to schute he was begun 
And threw ane arrow in the are on hyeht, 
Schewand his craft & his big bo wis mycht 
That lowsit of the takill with ane spang, 
And sone betid, & in thar sichtis sprang. 

The laws enacted respecting the practice of archery in 
Ireland have been noticed ; but a few words may be added 
respecting it in the fifteenth century : — 

Every Englishman resident in the country, or Irishman living 
amongst them, between the ages of 16 and 60, was to be provided with 
bow and arrows, under pain of a fine of 2d. per month. A gentleman 
on horseback was permitted to ride with his spear, provided all the 
males of his family were suitably equipped.* When any township had 
more than three resident householders, butts were to be established 
and a constable appointed. Here all the men so provided were to shoot 
at least three courses on every feast day, from the beginning of March 
to the end of July, or be fined £d. per day.* A few years after, when 
bows became deficient in Ireland, it was enacted that every merchant 
importing goods to the extent of £100 should import £o worth of bows, 
and so in proportion ; otherwise he was to be fined to that extent.f 
Every person possessing goods to the value of ,£10 was to be provided 
with a bow and a sheaf of arrows ; if his goods amount to ,£20 he must 
have a "Jack and Salet " in addition ; if he possesses land to the value 
of £4 a year, he must further provide a horse ; and all of the rank of 
esquires or upwards must provide " Jacke, Salet, bowe and arrowes," 
for every man daily resident in their houses.^ 

Their value at this period is not stated; but, in 1554, the 
Smiths' Company of Coventry § paid for "a braser and a 
schotying glove, viij d ;" and in 1583, there was purchased in 
Lancashire || — 

Towe sheffe of errowesse and a bowe, v 9 vij J . 

The pheon and arrows in this collection are all mediaeval.^ 

* 5 Edward IV., Chap. 4, § Queen Jane and Queen Mary, 125. 

t 12 Edward IV., Chap. 2. || Shuttleworth Accounts, p. 5. 

X 10 lien. VII., Chap 9. t J - y - A - 



208 



TART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



4. Flint Implements.— Y\g. 2 represents a flint arrow-head, 
and fig. 5 a flint knife or dagger ; so that a few remarks on 
this subject are indispensable. 

The implements of flint and stone certainly preceded those 
in metal ; and both in ancient and modern times the most 
extraordinary results were produced by such rude tools.* 
The Patagonians have hardly yet emerged from the " stone 
period ;" the New Zealanders did not possess metal within 
the memory of some of their own people; certain North 
American Indians acquired the use of metal within the 
present century, and some of them still know little of it ; and 
it is said that in the days of Cortes the Chilians illustrated 
the stone period, and the Peruvians the bronze period. In 
1844, an arrow-head was found near the centre of a log of 
Honduras mahogany, about fifteen inches from the outside : 
it lay parallel with the grain of the wood.f Also, in 1848, an 
arrow-point was found in an oak-tree which had fallen at 
lloxne, in Suffolk, the place where Edmund, king of the East 
Angles, was slain by the Danes in 870. The oak was part of 
the tree to which tradition asserts the king was tied and shot 
at ; and the arrow was found about five feet from the ground.^ 

The arrow-head shown here indicates some advance in 
construction ; for there were earlier and simpler forms, as the 
triangular arrow, and that with the hollow base.§ This 
belongs to the class called " stemmed," or inclining; to the 
broad arrow, though one of its wings is slightly injured. The 
mode of producing instruments of this kind has often formed 



* I possess several elegant speci- 
mens of New Zealand carving in wood, 
and also the greenstone chisel by 
which it was executed. " With rude 
and blunt stones, they felled the giant 
Kauri, toughest of pines ; and from it, 
in process of time, at an expense of 
labour, ingenuity, and perseverance, 
frequently astounding to those who 

know what it really was, produced, 

■ •) painted and inlaid, a master 



piece of art and an ohject of beauty, 
the war canoe, capable of carrying a 
hundred men. on a distant expedition, 
through the boisterous seas surround- 
ing their island." — Old Xew Zealand, 
p. 101. 

t Proceedings of the Society of An- 
tiquaries, I., 283. 

| lb. I., 279. 

§ Wilde's Catalogue, 19, 20. 



IMPLEMENTS OF ARCHERY. 209 

a theme for discussion ; but, as the process is performed every 
day in America, there is no secret about it. It proceeds in 
reality upon the principle of the division of labour. An old 
man has acquired the knack of chipping and preparing flints, 
and he does nothing else ; the other members of his tribe 
fighting for him, and supplying him with the products of the 
chase.* Other hard substances are also employed, like the 
obsidian of the highlands near Mexico ; and the Patagonians, 
who stole a bottle from on board a ship, were discovered a few 
hours afterwards converting the glass of it into arrow-heads. 

There is a dagger in the collection of the Eoyal Irish 
Academy with a handle of moss, and one can understand that 
some such soft object would require to be wrapped round the 
object indicated by fig. 8. 

Knives of flint are well known, long semicircular and of 
other shapes ; and they were used, especially by the priests, 
as more sacred, long after the introduction of metal ones. 
The Jews to this day use flint knives in circumcision ;f and 
this is precisely what the wife of Moses did on a similar occa- 
sion. J The Egyptians used similar knives in extracting the 
brains, the bowels, &c, in the process of embalming. , It was 
probably with knives of this kind that the priests of Baal cut 
themselves when trying the power of their respective deities 
with Elijah \\ aad, in cases of great grief, the same practices 



* The skill displayed in this art, as 
it is exhibited by the tribes of the 
entire continent, has excited admi- 
ration. The material employed is 
generally some kind of horn-stone ; 
but no specimens have been observed 

where the substance is gun flint 

To break them, the Indian seats him- 
self on the ground, and holds the 
lump on one of his thighs, interposing 
some hard substance below it. When 
the blow is given, there is a sufficient 
yielding in the piece to be fractured, 



not to endanger its being shivered 
into fragments. Many are, however, 
lost. Such is the art required in this 
business, both in selecting and frac- 
turing the stones, that it is found to 
be the employment of particular men, 
generally old men, who are laid aside 
from hunting to make arrow and 
spear heads. — Schoolcraft, III., 467. 

f Guide to Northern Archaeology, 
Ellesmere, p. 37. 

% Exod. iv. 25. 

§ 1 Kings xviii. 28. 

P 



210 



PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 



have existed among savage nations within our own times.* 
Attempts have been made, with more or less success, to manu- 
facture flint objects in imitation of ancient ones, but many of 
the forgeries have been detected, and the operation could now 
be hardly remunerative, f 



XYL— SPEARS AND DARTS.— Plate XXI. 



Form of Daxt. 

Darts of the smaller kind are often mistaken for arrows ; 
but the latter were smaller in size, and the two were essen- 
tially different in the mode of their propulsion. The dart was 
thrown by the hand ; and some, like the asseghai of South 
Africa, were of an intermediate size, suitable for a variety of 
purposes. They would serve to stab an enemy in close fight, 
or to kill a distant one ; they might be used occasionally as a 
knife, and for other common purposes. 

During the stone period, spear-heads were made of flint ; 
and some examples to be found in our museums are large and 
beautiful. Those who could manufacture such a material as 
flint into fish-hooks, saws, and even combs, could much more 
easily produce long and graceful spear-heads ; stemmed for 
more secure fastening in the handle, and barbed so as not to 
allow of easy retraction. Horn is a natural weapon of offence 
and defence ; and we should therefore not be surprised to 
find it in use as a dagger or spear ; yet its use for such a pur- 



* In her right hand she held a piece 
of volcanic glass, as sharp as a razor ; 
this she placed deliberately to her left 
wrist, drawing it slowly upwards to 
her left shoulder, the spouting blood 
following as it went; then from the 
left shoulder downwards, across the 
breast to the short ribs on the right 
Bide ; then the rude but keen knife 
vrai shifted from the right hand to 
the left .... She had scored her 
forehead and eheeki before I came; 



her face and body were a mere clot of 
blood, and a little stream was drop- 
ping from every finger. . . . This 
custom has been falling gradually out 
of use ; and when practised now in 
these degenerate times, the cutting 
and maiming is mere form, mere 
scratching to draw enough blood to 
swear by. — Old New Zealand, p. 62. 

f See Archaeolog. Journ., XII., 85, 
184, 418; and Proceedings Soc. Ant., 
IV., 233, 246. 



SPEAKS AND DARTS. 211 

pose is rare. Occasionally the tine of a stag's horn seems to 
have served the purpose of a rude dagger ; but it does not 
present sufficient facilities for sharpening. 

1. Bone Spears. — Bone is one of the least promising materials 
for purposes of this kind. It is tubular, and formed for sup- 
porting ; but unless one side be sharpened, as in the case of a 
large cane reed, it appears very ill suited to the purpose. 
Accordingly, examples of bone spears are rare ; for, in the first 
place, they were only used by a primitive people, with whom 
metal was unknown or very scarce ; and, in the second place, the 
material is very liable to decay. Still, in favourable situations, 
a few have been preserved ; at the bottoms of rivers, in 
moorish soil, or in the deposit of mud on the sites of the lake 
habitations of Switzerland. The inferences which the circum- 
stances of the case would dispose us to draw, are confirmed by 
the facts ; bone spears are found in connection with objects of 
the stone period. 

(a) Our largest specimen is drawn and engraved on a very 
small scale. It is really 9f inches long, and lj in diameter. 

^aaaaa^ 1 * ■-'^^Jp i It was found four feet below 
^e spear frT^?" 1 ^ tn e bottom of a river in the 
north part of King's County, in Ireland ; and is now in the 
collection of the Royal Irish Academy. It has been formed 
by cutting off obliquely a portion of both sides of the bone, 
which is of a dark brown colour. It has a sort of circular neck 
at the part where ifc would be joined by the staff or handle ; 
and it is penetrated by holes to secure its attachment. 

(b) A large bone spear-head, somewhat smaller than that 
just noticed, was found in moorish soil in the parish of Sticks- 
wold in Lincolnshire, near the river Witham. It is 7| inches 
long, but it is drawn and engraved on a larger scale than the last. 
The socket is shallow, and in forming the spear the core of the 
bone has been entered as in the former case ; so that there is 
a cavity on one side. There are rivet-holes near the bottom, 
showing how and where it was fastened to the shaft. The 
celebrated John Hunter decided that the bone was that of a 



212 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



horse, but a very small one. The instrument was presented to 
the British Museum by Sir Joseph Banks, in December, 1811. 
(c) The next, which is 6J inches long, was found in the 
Thames. The socket is narrower, both absolutely and in rela- 
tion to the length, than in that just 
described ; and there are rivet-holes 
as before, showing the mode of its attach- 
ment to the handle. There 
is a similar cavity produced 
by the core of the bone being 
/"li reached in the process of 

manufacture* This one is 
possessed by A. W. Franks, 
Esq., Director of the Society 
of Antiquaries ; and the large 
woodcuts are part of a set 
[Jill °^ e ^- even kindly lent me by 
the Society. 

2. Iron Spears and Darts. — 
With the Saxons the sword 
appears to have been com-i 
paratively rare, but spears] 
and javelins were numerous. 
"So constantly do we find 
these weapons in the Saxon 
graves, that it would appear 
no man above the condition 
of a serf was buried without 
one."f Some are large, like 
the spear or pike of modern 
times, or like the spear of the 
Bpear, hm Lincoinahire. ancient Scots; the characteris- 
tic of all which is, that it was retained by the person using 
it. Most of those found come under the head of javelins, or 
* Proceedings S. A. (2nd series), I t Mr. Roach Smith, in Introduction 






Is* 



wmLa 

BlK* 



I 



Bone Si>c:ir, 
from the Th&meB. 



J.. 163. 



to Inv. Bep. 



SPEARS AND DARTS. 



213 



darts which were thrown. They have not a solid socket, 
nor have they the projecting irons called straps running down 
both sides of the shaft ; but a simple longitudinal slit runs 
along one side of the socket for the shaft, and, after it was 
inserted, the whole was made fast in its place by rings and 
rivets. The accompanying illustrations, which are on a scale 

of one-third, will 
serve to show the 
form which the 



Head of a small Javelin. 




objects assumed ; and in this case the longitudinal slit is very- 
perceptible. In another example, there is no central rib along 
the blade, and the socket appears to have been broken off 
with the shaft ; 
but the third, 

\\ men is very gpear Head) ^.^ broken Socket . 

elegant in form, appears to be complete, the socket being un- 
usually graceful in appearance. Of the two which exist in 
this collection, and are represented on the Plate, figs. 5 and 7, 
both are small, for they are represented of the actual sizes. 
The latter is barbed like the darts known as angons ; and the 
former is plain, but less tapering than any of the three repre- 




Spear Head, complete. 

sented here. Both have tubular sockets as distinct from 
cloven ones ; and in both the whole length seems to be indi- 
cated, though there is a fracture on one side. 

3. Termination of Spear Handles. — In heraldry, a Cross 
fitche was one which had its lowest and longest bar pointed, 
as if for the purpose of sticking it in the ground. It was 
usual for spears and even ordinary staves to have a spiked 
ferrule somewhat of the same kind ; so that the spear, when 
leaning against a tree, a wall, or any other support, was se- 
curely fixed in the ground. When a spear or javelin is 
found in a grave, it is not unusual to come upon the head and 
ferrule at some distance from each other, but on the same side 



214 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 





of the skeleton ; the intermediate line sometimes dark with 
the remains of decayed wood, showing the length of the shaft. 
The pilum had its ferrule as well as the hasta. 

The annexed example shows a ferrule of brass 
with the spike of iron ; so that the two were dis- 
tinct from each other. From the position in which 
it was found, it is supposed that it belonged to a 
staff, part of the wood of which appears within it. 
The next is the ferrule and spike of 
a large spear, whose head, from the 
extremity of the point to the low- Ferrule of staff - 
est part of the socket, was about twenty-one 
inches. Along with it were found two javelin 
heads, and two small ferrules of brass, which 
had in all probability belonged to them. 
Another grave contained the fer- 
rule of a javelin lying in the usual 
position at the left side, and at the 
ordinary distance from the metal 

Large -Ferrule of Spear, j^ j t - p^CUliaT, aS it SHOWS 

the spike both internally and externally. One 
ferrule is somewhat conical in shape, 
but contains no spike. It was found 
near the feet, while the head of the 
javelin to which it belonged was near 
the knees. The whole implement, there- vtaae of javeun. 
fore, could not have exceeded two feet in length. 
This is iron, and about three inches long* In smaller 
weapons, like that just noticed, the ferrule was like 
the lead or other weight at the end of a tilting-spear, 
so that when thrown it balanced the head, and pre- 
served a more horizontal motion during the flight 

© o 

rSKfjaSL Tll( ' force with which such objects can be projected 




• A javelin like ours, PL XXI., fig. 7, 
with ;t ferrule like this, WES procured 
from tin- river Witliaui, iu Lincoln, 
about ii\e oi six yeara ago and others 



of a similar kind nrc of occasional or 
frequent occurrence. — Proceedings, 
S. A., IV., 211. 




TOR D" HUMfS HOTl/.' 



.■..-■■ 



AJ ES 8ec: 



NEEDLES, NEEDLE-CASES, THIMBLES. 



215 



may be seen at the present day. An . Australian savage will 
hurl a common wooden spear right through, the 
neck of an ox; and he would of course produce 
greater results, or the same with more facility, by 
means of a spear pointed with metal. Nothing 
resembling any of these ferrules has been found 
among the Cheshire antiquities. 




Common form 
of Ferrule. 



XVII.T- NEEDLES, NEEDLE-CASES, THIMBLES.— 
Plate XXII. 

1. — Needles. 



Double-pointed bronze needle, l-3rd. 

(1.) Early use. — Needles must have existed from a very 
early date, but of course they were of primitive construction. 
The Hebrew women occupied much of their time in em- 
broidery,* as well as in spinning and weaving; and the 
directions for the construction of the Tabernacle, as well as 
of the robes of Aaron, show that skill in embroidery existed. 
The product of the needle was naturally costly, and therefore 
highly prized ; so that, when occurring as spoil, it was the 
portion of the chieftain, and when as a present it was worthy 
of a king.f In our own country there were companies of 
" Broderers," or embroiderers, in London, Bristol, and Chester ; 
but the needle had no place on their arms. The only instru- 
ment of their craft which appeared was that known as the 
Broche.J Among the nations of antiquity, the Pirrygi&nfl 
were particularly celebrated for their gold embroidered work ; 
so that the term orplvrey work, which was common in the 
mediaeval period, has descended to our own times. It indi- 
cated such decoration as was common on tin; garment* of 
ecclesiastics, and is derived from aurum Pforygiomm, 



* Exod. xxvi., xxxvii., xviii., &c. 

t Judg. v. 30 ; Psal. xlv. 14. 

X A little pencil-looking object of 



metal or ivory, with a wcdgc-liko 
point, containing a slit like that of a 
crochet needle. 



216 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



(2.) Material — Eoman needles have been found at Ricli- 
borough and Urieoninm; and in the lake habitations of 
Switzerland several have been discovered both of bone and 
bronze. One of the latter kind is given at the head of this 
article.* In Mr. Eoach Smith's collection of London Anti- 
quities, there were several of bronze ; t and a long one of the 
same material was found on the site of the Eoman wall in 
the north, described by the Eev. Dr. Bruce. The Abbe Cochet 
has figured one, curved and tapering from a thick top, % about 
four inches long in alL It is similar to those carried by 
soldiers in modern times ; and he supposes that in the medi- 
seval period such needles may have served similar uses. In 
the collection of the Eoyal Irish Academy § there are eighteen 
bronze needles, besides several others on " find " trays. In a 
Saxon tumulus at Kingston Down, in Kent, two brass needles 
were found by Faussett in 1771 ; and in the old poem, Ro- 
maunt de la Rose, translated by Chaucer, a beau is represented 
as using a silver needle. 

(3.) Varieties in structure. — Some of those found at Urico- 
nium have the eye placed in the middle (like that shown 
above), and a " double-pointed " one has been figured in like 
manner from the Eoyal Museum of Northern Antiquaries at 
Copenhagen. Perforated pieces of bronze are also found in 
Scotland, which can have served only as needles. A needle 
very similar to ours was found in the ruins of Soburg. The 
ancient bone needles found in Switzerland are either straight 
or slightly curved ; and they have occasionally two eyes at 
one end, that remote from the point. In one of them the head 



* Quand l'oeil se trouve sur le mi- 
lieu dc l'instrument, les deux extre- 
rnites decclui-ci sontpointues, coramc 
on a duja pu le rcmarquer sur les 
aigoilettea en os de Concise; mais le 
ploi sonvent l'u'il circulaire, cane on 
en Loaange, est sur le bout oppose a 
li pointe. — Tn>>/ou's llidntntims La- 

ctutnt, j). 161. 



f Catalogue, No. 345. 

X Faut il rattaehcr a lYquipcment. 
militaire les aiguilles de bronze que 
Ton recontre de temps a autre dans 
nos sepultures. . . Nos militaires 
portent encore des cpingles analogues. 
— /.a Normandu SbuterrouM, 257. 

§ Wilde'fl Catalogue, 547. 



NEEDLES, NEEDLE-CASES, THIMBLES. 



217 



Bone needle from Concise, Switzerland, J size. 



or top has been grooved out on both sides, an operation which 
is technically called " guttering," that the thread or cord may- 
present as little ob- 
struction as possible 
while being drawn 
through the cloth.* In some instances the eye is near the 
point, as in modern needles used by saddlers. In a bog in 
the Isle of Skye, bronze needles have been found, along with 
portions of decayed textile fabrics ;| and some of the needles in 
Mr. Eoach Smith's collection contained a similar substance 
adhering to the eye. 

(4.) General Remarks. — In the sewing of leather, and pro- 
bably many kinds of cloth, a needle proper was not employed 
in the olden time, but a piercer ; and the thread was passed 
through as a shoemaker or saddler passes his ends through still. 
Curious awls of stone and brass are found in various countries 
of Europe, but their exact use was not known till lately ; the 
same implements are, however, used daily in the making of 
belts, leggings, mocassins,! wigwam-covers, &c, by the Indians 
of America. Schoolcraft § figures a beautiful piercer, or awl, 

made of the thorn of 
the cactus, with a 
piercer of cactus Thorn. covering or handle to 

protect the hand ; and also a needle of the same material 
which, when procured, had a piece of thread sticking in the 
eye of it. T.n.-ro-p, >e ***-i > _ 

needles of metal were Ncedle of CactU8 Thorn . ~~^^ 

articles of great value at the time when they were rare ; and 
they were carried about the person along with other valuables. 
In the Archxologia (XXXV. pi. xii.), two are represented as 
strung on a ring along with an ear-pick ; they were found in 
an Anglo-Saxon burying-ground at Harnliam Hill, near Salis- 
bury. It is related that, at the settlement of the Pilgrim Fathers 



* The example given in the text is 
guttered. 

t Wilson, p. 328. 



J Schoolcraft, L 71 j II. 90. 
§ lb., V. 93. 



218 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



in North America, owing to some accident, there was but one 
needle at a particular settlement, and the housewives were 
obliged to hire it in rotation, so that it might be kept employed 
without intermission, night and day. The old play, entitled 
Gammer Gurtoris Needle, written in 1565 by John Still, after- 
wards Bishop of Bath, shows that it was an implement of 
some importance to rustic people ; but we may place in con- 
trast with that fact the proverb "not worth a needle,"* nearly 
equivalent to our own " not worth a pin." 

The manufacture of modern needles is said to have been 
introduced into England about 1565, by Elias Krause, a 
German; but like many other things, the history of whose 
manufacture is imperfectly known, they were called Spanish. 
Thus, in Ford's Dramatic Works, the needle is spoken of under 
the name of a " Spanish pike." It was usual for begging friars 
to carry them round the country, selling or exchanging them 
with housewives, just as travelling collectors of rags exchange 
pins and needles in the country in modern times. There is 
an allusion to this custom in Barclay s Cytezcn and Uplondi/sh 
Mem (1514), p. 32. 

"VVe gyve wol & chese, our wyves coyne & eggs, 
When freres flatter & prayse theyr propre legges, 
For a score of pynnes, & nedles two or thre, 
A gentle Cluner two cheses had of me. 
In the old play of The Four P's, the Pedlar is represented 
carrying in his pack " nedles, threcle, thymbell, shers ; " and in 

the Ancren Riivle a "sopare" is mentioned (soaper or pedlar), 



* In the Ancren JRiwle, p. 400, oc- 
curs the expression "ne beoth nout 
Wttrth a nclde," (are not worth a 
needle.) In the Towneley Mystery 
Plays, written probably before 1400, 
Cnyn is represented as saying in the 
play of " Mactatio Abel." — 



win n Jin.- in, ns eorne mi f:.yr la Mil, 

Thi'ii was mvno not worth a nrld; 
Wht D I uliuKI mw, 1 wiintyil soyili', 

And of eonia liaii fuiu- pata nag de, 
Then i:nf ha ma nana of hit ' 

Surlecs Soc. Edn , p. ] 



In our old English literature ncchl 
and neld are commonly used for 
needle ; and the indefinite article takes 
the consonant with it, or drops it, as 
an <lil, a norm, a nolde man. In the 
Ancren Riuth, which is a semi-Saxon 
monastic code of the thirteenth ivn- 
tury,"nelde prikungc" occurs, p. 184; 
and u A wummon hath forloren hire 
nclde," p. ."124, (a woman hath lost 
her needle.) 



NEEDLES, NEEDLE-CASES, THIMBLES. 219 

" that ne bereth buten sope and nelden " (that carries but soap 
and needles). 

5. Needles in this Collection. — These in number are about 
eleven, and are all of bronze. They vary in length from 1J 
to 5 1 inches ; and are evidently different also in their dates 
and mode of construction. In some the eye is circular,* in 
this respect resembling those found in France ; in others it is 
longitudinal, f The point appears to have been formed by 
hammering rather than by grinding. In fig. 10, the chisel- 
shaped object which pierced the eye, appears to have been 
used to give a slight " guttering." From the collection of the 
Koyal Irish Academy, two bronze needles are figured, in 

^=^ which lonontudi- 



— ^S ; nal eyes have been 

Bronze Needles, wsh. punched. Thecon- 

struction of la is visible, and is very curious. It is formed of 
extremely thin metal, hammered up into a solid mass ; and it 
shows the seam or junction throughout nearly its whole 
length. The point might have been formed by narrowing the 
rectangular slip of metal before it was hammered. The head, 
or upper end, was then flattened, and an eye punched in it. 

6. Modern Needles. — A few words may be said on modern 
needles ; especially as the sewing machine threatens to transfer 
them to the cabinet of the antiquary in less than another 
century. It has called into existence the manufacture of a 
peculiar needle, and of other instruments for its own use. 
The manufacture of needles is identified with several places 
in England, e. g., Whitechapcl in London, Hathersage in 
Derbyshire, the neighbourhood of Birmingham, and especially 
Eedditch in Worcestefshire. I have also beeu informed by a 
Eedditch manufacturer, that needles were made in Chester 
about seventy or eighty years ago, and that a man who had 
worked there died at an advanced age in his own employ- 
ment. 

* PI. XXII., 3, 12, and 13. | t PL XXII., la, 5, 10, and 14. 



220 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

It may be sufficient to enumerate a few of the processes. 
The circular wire is cut into double lengths, and is then straight- 
ened and stamped in the middle, so as to form two needles 
inverted. The eyes are pierced through ; the burr or projec- 
tion is then filed off; the two are separated ; and then follows 
hardening, straightening, tempering, burnishing, finishing, &c. 
Where the division of labour is complete, the processes 
amount to more than thirty in all. Out of fourteen pounds 
of wire, so many as 48,100 needles are made at Eedditch, of 
which only three per cent, are broken, and unfit for use. The 
remainder, 46,700, are suitable for commerce and domestic use. 

2. — Needle-Cases. 
These are mentioned in connexion with the needles found 
in Denmark ; and a Eoman needle-case, found near Carlisle, 
is described by the Eev. Dr. Bruce. Faussett found, at 
Kingston Down, with the two needles which have been 
mentioned, a little needle-case, which is engraved in the 
Inventorium Sepulchrale. It was a brass cylinder, and a 
small piece of cloth which wrapped it round, and seemed 
to join the top, was still undecayed. A peculiar needle-case 
is engraved by Mr. Smith ; it is about three inches square, 
and its sides are covered with grotesque figures. Chaucer 
represents a gallant as possessing a needle-case, and using 
it to complete his toilet before going to the country; and 
Strutt engraves his portrait, in illustration of the costume of 
the thirteenth century, from the frontispiece to an edition of 
the French poem. 

A sylver nedyl forth I drowe, 

Out of an aguiler queint ynow, 

And gan this nedyl threde anon, 

For out of towne me lyste to gon. 

. . . With a threde bastyng my slevis 

Alone I went. 

Rom. of the Rose, 1. 97. 

In em English Vocabulary of the thirteenth century, ilio 

following entry occurs — 



HAIR-PINS, PIERCERS, ETC. 221 

Hec agnaria, a nedyl-hows.* 
In the present collection there are five needle-cases, two of 
which are figured here. That which is marked 16 was found 
near the needle la, and was probably used to contain it ; for 
it allows, besides the needle, merely a plug or stopper of 
wood. They are all constructed on a uniform and very simple 
plan. A rectangular piece of thin metal like pasteboard, has 
been bent into a roll or cylinder ; and two notches having been 
cut out at one end, the bottom is turned up upon the sides. 
In another example, not engraved here, the needle and needle- 
case were evidently adapted to each other. 

3. — Thimbles. 
Only two or three have been found, all of which are 
very imperfect. One of them, apparently of bronze, is figured, 
fig. 11. It is evidently much more modern than the needles. 
This tends to corroborate Alexander Neckam,-f- who speaks 
of thimbles as made of leather in his time, probably of cuir- 
houilli. 



XVIII.— HAIR-PINS, PIERCERS, &c.— Plate XXII. 

1. Needle-shaped Pins. — The same word acus served among 
the ancients to denote a needle, a pin, and a piercer or bodkin ; 
it also indicated the tongue of a buckle. The various objects 
were therefore associated in name. They were also associated 
in use; as the needle, the breast-pin, and the hair-pin, 
approximated so closely in construction that they were some- 
times undistinguishable. Among antiquities they are fre- 
quently mistaken for each other, so that this subject naturally 
holds an intermediate place between the needle and the pin 
proper. 

The implement which was related to all the three was a 
skewer, with a perforation at the end remote from the point, 



* Mayer's Vocub., p. 199. The 
same term occurs in a Nominale of 
the fifteenth century, thus : — Hoc 



acuare, a ncdyl-hows. lb., p. 2W2. 
t Mayer's Vocabularies, 101. 



222 ' PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 

and its chief use appears to have been as a hair-pin, the hole 
being adorned with a fluttering ribbon. The mode of using it 
is depicted by Montfaucon ; and his engraving, which appears 
in the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, has been 
placed side by side with an example sketched by Mr. Fairliolt 
at Coblentz.* A very plain bone pin, engraved from Dr. Wilde's 
Catalogue,^ appears to have been employed for this purpose. 
The head is very simple, and ornamented by diagonal lines. 
It is given here of full size. 



Bone Hair-pin. 

A hair-pin of this kind was in Mr. Eoach Smith's collection 
with a medallion on the head, and the slit or eye near the 
point.J A needle-pin of bronze is engraved in the Account 
of the Fairford Graves, Plate ix., fig. 7. There is a hole at 
the top, and a ring of wire through it. Among some Anglo- 
Saxon antiquities at Barrow Furlong, in Northamptonshire, 
five such hair-pins were discovered, one of them having a ring 
of brass wire inserted in the hole. They were a little more 
or less than four inches long, and, from the thickness of the 
head of each, it could never have been used as a needle. One 
of them was of bone. Needle-pins of the same kind have 
been found in Scotland. § 

Besides the modern use of the needle-pin for the hair in 
Germany, I noticed a similar object in silver, large and 
beautiful, in the International Exhibition of 1862. It formed 
part of the local collection of the Ionian Islands, and is worn 
by the women there. 

2. Pins with Loops and Rings. — In 1857 Mr. Akerman 
exhibited the mountings of a hair-pin, found among Saxon 
remains at Broughton Poggs, Oxon, with a ring through the top. 
Ee also advanced evidence to show that the hair-pin was a 

• Journal Axon. Assoc, vol. IV. 47. | X Catalogue of Loudon Aut., p. G3. 
f Wilde, p, 333. § Wilson, p. 328. 



HAIR-PINS, PIERCERS, ETC. 223 




Mountings of Hair-pin. 

distinction of the matron, while unmarried women permitted 
the hair to float in capillo* The mounting of a hair-pin, whose 
stem had perished, was also found with some Anglo-Saxon 
remains, by the late Mr. J. M. Kemble, in North Wilts. The 
material was bronze, f In one which has been engraved, from 
the Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Brighthampton, Oxon, the use of 
the ring inserted at the top is apparent. In the grave of a 
girl, a taper bronze hair-pin, six inches long, was found, and 
the ring at the top had suspended a little tassel of thin bronze, 
with seventeen circles punched on each side. J In some 
remarkable objects from Italy, Styria, and Mecklenburg, a 
number of small human figures were attached to a miniature 
chariot. All the females have their ears bored, and remains 
of ear rings ; and at the back of the head of each there is a loop 
or ring, showing that something ornamental had been sus- 
pended there. 

Among the objects related, may be mentioned the hair-pin. 
Plate XXII., fig. 7, which, instead of an eye, has a loop 
formed of the material itself. It has suffered by fracture, but 
its general design is obvious. Fig. 9 denotes an instrument 
the precise uses of which are unknown. The fragment of it 
shown here resembles a portion of an ordinary Jew's harp ; 
but hair-pins of a similar kind are known in Denmark, one 
side serving for insertion, and the other for decoration. The 
form suggested by the dotted lines is taken from an engraving 
in Worsaces Afbildningcr, &c. 

The annexed curious object was found at Sibertswold 
Down, in a woman's grave ; but, as it was of iron, it was found 

* Proceedings Soc. Antiq., IV., 74. | J lb. XXXVIII., 07. 
t Archajologia, XXXVII., p. 114. 



224 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

impossible to preserve it. Mr. Eoach Smith suggests that it 
was a buckle ; but may it not have served as an acus crinalis, 
or hair-pin of an unusual form ? 




Object of doubtful purpose. 

Pins generally. — The Eoman hair-pins which have been 
found at various places, and on various occasions, are usually 
of bone or bronze. The former are more rudely manufactured, 
and the latter more elegantly. The bronze ones are also more 
slender in their structure, as mass of material was not necessary 
to give them strength.* Several of those found at Uriconium f 
are thick in the middle, as if to prevent the possibility of their 
being readily lost, and some of them still retained, when they 
were found, traces of the oil with which they had been smeared 
when in use. Some of the hair-pins in Denmark J were 
double, the two parts being united by a chain or a long link, 
like the modern cravat pin, known as the "union pin." 
There is an example from Beech Downs, in the Londesborough 
collection. § A bronze pin, found in Ireland, about three and 
a half inches long, is thick in the middle, and has a cup- 
shaped head, like the cusped ornaments common in that 
country. Numerous other curious pins, so large as to have 
probably been used for the hair, but possibly also for the 
dress, arc noticed in Archaeological volumes. 

In the grave of a woman was found a small brass hair-pin, 
with head thin and flat, and with cross-marks, like a minutely 
divided inch measure. 



• Antiquities of Ku-hboro', p. 85. 
f Quide to Uriconium, p. 71. 



§ See Antiquities of Lymne, Plate 

viii., and Invcntorium Scpulchralc, 



| Woftfut'i A-fbildninger, j». 40. p. xxxi 



HAIR-PINS, PIERCERS, ETC. 225 

" ll ' 1 "" 1 " ' M ' " ! ' ! ' M ' ' " ' '^} 

Brass Hair-pin. 

A long and graceful hair-pin of bronze was found 
near Bicester, several feet below the surface, while 
digging for the railway. It has a small bead of white 
glass at the top, held by claws. In the collection 
of the Eoyal Irish Academy is a decorated bone pin. 
At the head it is perforated with five holes, and is an 
interesting example of what is called the circular 
domino ornament, common to bone objects. It is seven 
and a half inches long, but is here represented on a 
reduced scale. It was found in the river Shannon. 

In my own possession there are several large 
pins, nine and ten inches long. They are of 
ordinary thick wire, with metallic heads the 
size of a small pea, or with dark glass beads for 
heads, or with heads of spiral wire, about the 
size of those of modern pins. Along with them 
is a piece of doubled wire fifteen inches long, 
forming what is technically called in modern 
times a " hair-pin," of half this length. The 
whole of these were used, about eighty years ago, 
in fixing the high projections of hair and cushions 

Bone Pin 

which were worn on ladies' heads. il?™^ 



Shannon. 



Pin fr-,m Bi 
center. 



J The object engraved fig. 4, Plate XXII., is probably 

' an ear-scoop or part of a pair of tweezers ; but it \\ ; s 
grouped for engraving in consequence of the form of 
its eye, its no inference could be drawn with certainty respect- 
ing its other extremity. 

Two articles of bone are primitive in their character. They 
have evidently answered the purpose of bodkins* or piercersj 



* The bodkin was simony the mis- 
cellaneous articles sold to ladies, as 
mentioned in the O. P. by Martin 
Parker, Harry White his Humour. 

It uas also used in dressing the hair, 



and frequently bad a needle form. 
" A bodkine or fine instrument that 

women curie their heare withall, it 
in.i\ be called a friseling iron. A 
bodkine or big needle to crest the 

Q 



226 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS: 



or have possibly served as hair-pins, or skewers for very coarse 
and common dresses. 

With the exception of the two pieces of bone, figs. 6 and 9, 
all the objects on this plate are brass or bronze. Perhaps that 
is the reason why the instrument denoted by fig. 8 has been 
preserved so well as compared with Mr. Faussett's. Figs, la 
and lb were drawn in 1847 from some of the earliest articles 
procured, viz., those belonging to Mrs. Longueville. Figs. 7, 8, 
and 12, denote objects in my own collection. Figs. 5, 13, and 
14, others in Mr. Smith's ; and the eight remaining objects 
belong to Mr. Mayer. 



XIX.— PINS.— Plate XXIII. 

1. Material. — Though this object is so small, and com- 
mercially so valueless, it has become practically a necessary 
of civilization. It is now manufactured in quantities so large 
as to be scarcely credible, and the numbers used, injured, 
thrown aside, or lost, are equally great ; yet when pins were 
manufactured singly, like nails, each one was an object of 
great importance. 

The primitive pins — namely, spines of a thorn — which have 
already been noticed, were used until recently by poor women 
in Wales. They were scraped and dried, and called pin dram.* 
Wooden pins also were employed for personal use, and a hair- 
pin of this material has been found among the Roman remains 
at Uriconium.f Pins of horn were also occasionally employed 
before the common use of metal pins ; and one, believed to be 
of this material, was found in a primitive wood coffin in East 
Yorkshire.:): 

Pins of bone, nearly the thickness of an ordinary ivory pen- 



hcares." — Fleming. "An utensil wo- 
men roll their hair on." — Bailey. The 
bodkin or piercer of cloth, possessed 
its Dame In common with the dagger; 
and in this latter sense the term is 
fonnd in Chaucer, Shakspcarc, and 
numerous other writers. The term 

" itiletto " hai become more common 



in our own day, to denote an imple- 
ment for ladies' work, and this also 
includes the dagger. 

* Harland's Notes to the Shuttle- 
worth Accounts. 

f Wright's Guide, p. 71. 

$ Wright's Essays, I., 139. 



PIXS. 



227 



holder, are found in large numbers at Koinan stations,"* and also 
in British barrows and Saxon burial-places. A few days ago, 
I inspected a large number which had been found with Eoman 
fibulae at Lincoln. Pins made from the bone of the ox, and a 
ruder and smaller one from the bone of the sheep, were found 
among some Celtic relics at Orkney ; f also in a cinerary urn 
at Ballidon Moor.J Among Eoman remains they have been 
found in large numbers ; some very curious ones at Rich- 
borough, others at Boxmoor, Herts, and at Uriconium. § Bone 
pins have been found in Kent, and are preserved among the 
articles of the Faussett collection. Large ones, called spindle- 
pins, supposed to have been used as spindles or knitting-pins, 
were also found, along with a carved reed, in the graves of 
the Allemanni, at Oberflacht in Swabia.|| They are also fre- 
quently found in Switzerland. ^ 

The annexed beautiful little ivory pin was found with a 
small brass buckle and attachment, two 
knives, a knife-sheath, a javelin, and an ^^ LL - : 
urn. It was evidently employed in con- smaii ivory vm. 

nection with male attire, as this could not be a woman's grave. 

Iron pins were common till lately among the lower orders, 
and may be so still ; but the material being corrosive, many of 
the ancient specimens have no doubt perished. Before the 
introduction of the Poor-Law system into Ireland, that is to 
say, before the last twenty-five or thirty years, skewers were 
very common among Irish beggars, for fastening the blanket 
or large shawl by which a child was suspended on the back. 
An iron skewer was found at Caerwent nine inches long, with 
a ring at one end, but whether it had been used in fastening 
the dress is not known.** 

Pins, consisting of a single strip of copper, exist in the collec- 
tion of the Royal Irish Academy, and others of simple construc- 
tion of brass or bronze. Every degree of artistic skill is exempli- 



* Archaeological Journal, VIII., 35. 
t Archaeologia, XXXIV.,135. 
X Reliquary, II., 62. 
§ Wright's Guide, p. 86, and PI. xi. 



|| Archseologia, XXXVI., 147. 
^[ Troyon's Habit. Lacus., Plate 
vii.figs. 1, 2, 3, 11. 

** Archaaologia, XXXVI., 430. 



228 



TART IT. — THE OBJECTS. 



ned,up to the highest style of ornamentation. As bronze or brass 
pins are so well known, only a slight allusion to them is necessary. 
Small brass pins, for linen or other clothing material, have 
been found in the ancient British barrows, and Celtic pins of 
brass at Orkney.* Along with the Eoman bone pins just 
noticed, bronze or brass ones were also found at Boxmoor, 
Herts. Curious and interesting pins of this material have 
been found at various places in Ireland. One from Eandals- 
town, near Antrim, has two animal heads on the ring which 
passes through the top;f and another from the same county, 
with a twisted ring nearly large enough for an armlet, and 
with a pin nearly three inches long, exhibits signs of gilding, 



and has a hollow for the admission of a 



gem. 



A lame 



number of others, of great variety of patterns, was found at 
Ballinass Bay, in the county of Donegal. § A square bronze 
pin, pointed' at both ends, is figured by M. Troyon, || and 
those with ornamented heads are numerous. 

Of Anglo-Saxon pins, one was found by Kemble in North 
Wilts, and several were found in Kent. It is said that metal 
pins like ours are first mentioned in the statutes of 1483; but 
that it was sixty years after before the manufacture of them 
was established in England. 

2. Fonns. — The forms which they assumed may be seen from 
some of the following figures, which allow us to f~\ 
compare them with those in the present collec- 
tion. The two pins annexed are both of brass, 
and resemble ours, figs. 4 and 5 respectively. It 
will be observed that one of them, like our 
fig. 4, becomes thicker near the point, and that 
the other has a solid spherical head They were 
found in the same grave along with a knife, a 
piece of iron, some linen cloth, and part of an 
urn. The next example is one with a thin 



In .like |1., f 

win IMl 



head, and with ornamental cross lines ami' 



I'l.xl 

)l( .1.1. ,1 



|"i: 

ia«i. 



• Archaologia, \X\IV.. 95. J lb. V., 157. 

+ Ulster Journal of Archaeology, ' §Ib. VI.,351. 
IV., 269. || Habit. Lacui 



1M. viiL fie. iy. 



pixs. 229 

apparently running round it. This pin appears to be not 
A cylindrical but square, or rather not conical but 
pyramidal. It was found in a woman's grave with 
beads, near the neck of the skeleton, and a box at the 
feet. A fourth brass pin, with pyramidal head, g*>> 
was also found in a woman's grave; along with it 
was a needle-case like ours, Plate XXII., fig. lb, 
and two needles like ours, Plate XXII., figs, la 
and 2, together with a piece of linen, which 
apparently enclosed the top of the needle-case. 
A fifth brass pin, with three cross marks at three 
places, was found beside the head of a middle- 
aged person. Bra 

Wirhpyra- «-'•*■ ^ with triple 

midaiiiead. j^ s j]_y er pi n> somewhat resembling the third marking. 
^>. of these examples, was found in one of the Anglo-Saxon 
graves of Kent. It is flat-headed, and marked by cross 
lines beneath the head, and towards the point. It was 
in a woman's grave, accompanied by ear-rings, precious 
stones, &C.* Another elegant little one of silver @ 
gilt, with a hole in its flatted head, and a rope- 
like pattern running down the whole of its stem, 
was also found in a woman's grave. She appears 
to have been a person of distinction, as along 
with it were found a chatellaine, ear-rings, beads, „ 

tJ Small Pin 

a comb, armlets of ivory and brass, a knife and of gut? r 
to sheath, shears, bead, chain, &c. These last two ex- 
amples remind us of the allusions to the " siller pin " in the 
old ballads, which was not altogether a poetic exaggeration^ 

Chaucer's monk, who appears to have been very dressy for 
a churchman, used a pin of gold ; but pins of that metal were 
very rare, and were seldom alluded to in our old English 

literature. 

And for to fasten his hood under his chinne, 
He hadde of gold y wroght a curious pinne. J 



* Inventorium Sepulchrale, p. 43. 

t Oh had I wist before I kist, 
That love had been sac ill to win, 

I had locked my heart with a key o' gOWO, 
And pinned it mV a siller pin. 

0. I). The Mai chwntst of Douglas. 



X Prologue to the Canterbury Talcs. 



230 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

They were sometimes worn even in church, if the old ballad 
of Proud Lady Margaret be true : — 

When you are in the gude kirk set, 

The gowd pins in your hair, 
Ye tak mair delyte in your feckless dress 

Than in your morning prayer. 

John de Garlande,* in the early part of the thirteenth 
century, describes the Aurifahri as manufacturing pins, 
" spintera." f Many of these, as we see, were not unlike the 
tongues of brooches, or " buckle brooches ; " and such things 
are manufactured at present with hinges attached, that they 
may be soldered on to the brooches of various materials which 
are currently manufactured. 

3. Uses. — The two great purposes for which pins were 
employed, were to fasten the dress and the hair. Judging 
from the practice of modern times, we should infer that the 
smaller pins were employed exclusively for the former purpose, 
and the larger for the latter ; but this is not quite correct. A 
very small pin, like the example of silver gilt just given, was 
probably employed in connecting the dress, but so were also 
large ones approaching in size to skewers. A particular class 
of hair-pins, bearing some relation to needles, has already been 
noticed j but of those shown here as examples of brass pins, 
probably every one was an acus crinalis, or hair-pin, for in 
every instance they were found by the side of the skull. The 
larger silver pin was also found by the skull. 

At Long Wittenham, in Berks, several minute pins were 
found along with bones in an urn, and one was bent back as 
if for the fastening of a cloak. { In the clerical dress, the pall 
was fastened to the chesuble by means of small gold pins. A 
large pin of this kind, with an ornamental head, forms part of 
the armorial bearings of the see of Canterbury. From all 
this, it is evident that we can only indicate in general terms 

Mi\, r\ Yocah., p. 128. I espiny/c," elsewhere. 

t Explained thus, "Spincter dicitur I J Archceologia, XXXVIII., 34. 



PINS. 



231 



the uses to which pins were applied in mediaeval and earlier 
times, and probably one, as has been suggested, served various 
purposes at various times. 

The style of dress in the seventeenth century, and 
the use of pins in connection with it, may be seen by a 
quotation from the old play of Lingua, by Anthony Brewer, 
1607 :— 

" Five hours ago, I set a dozen maids to attire a boy like a nice 
gentlewoman, but there is such doing with their looking-glasses, pin- 
ning,* unpinning, setting, unsetting, formings and conformings ; such 
stir with sticks and combs, cascanets, dressings, purls, falls, squares, 
busks, bodies, scarfs, necklaces, carcanets, rebatoes, borders, ties, fans, 
palisadoes, puffs, ruffs, cuffs, muffs, pusles, fusles, partlets, frislets, 
bandlets, fillets, croslets, pendulets, amulets, annulets, bracelets, and so 
many lets, that yet he's scarce dressed to the girdle ; and now there is 
such calling for fardingales, kirtles, busk-points, shoe-ties, &c, that seven 
pedlars' shops, nay, all Sturbridge fair, will scarce furnish her. A ship 
is sooner rigged by far than a gentlewoman made ready." 

4. Ornamentation, &c. — The following are examples shewing 
various styles, and the form of the heads, and the manufacture 
of the stems. It will be seen that in some instances they are 
very simple, in others somewhat complicated. The stems are 
sometimes flat and sometimes round ; and, when decorated, the 
decoration extends downwards to about one-third of the length. 
This is the part which appeared along with the head, the rest 
being concealed in the dress. In some, the lower third of the 
pin is quadrangular, as if to present a difficulty in withdrawing 
it ; and in some there is a knob about one-third the length from 
the top, as if to prevent the insertion of the pin beyond that 
point. The following eight specimens are taken from Wilde's 
Catalogue of the Royal Irish Academy's collection, where they 
are figured and described, p. 556. The two examples shewn 



* In the old play, Harry White 
his Humour, the following occurs — 

Furtunio. What hast thou there ? 

Medusa. Cawls, gorgets, hairs, powders to make a 



Valentia gloves and Venice rolls, to rub the teeth 

withal, 
Laces, purses, rings, busks, wires, and glasses flue, 
Bracelets, perfumes, still'd waters, sops in wine, 
Tins, bodkins, stays, and other kinds of stuff. 



PART II.— THE OBJECTS. 





and 
heads. 



here, have both conical heads and plain stems/ 
In the former, the cone stands upon a double ring, 
and is surmounted by a knob ; in the latter, it 
stands upon a single ring, and is chequered like 
the slates or tiles of a house. " The next two ex- 
Ilibh SecL onical aniples shew one pin with ornamented stem, 
notched at the sides, and with an indented line 
passing downwards. Its head consists of a 
series of rings, like little terraces. The second 
of this pair has a multangular head like ours, 
figs. 7, 8, 9, and 11, but the facets are plain; 
whereas, in the examples on Plate XXIIL, they Ir iSSS 
are all ornamented. A more elegant example than any of 
these existed among the objects first discovered; it had a large 
multangular head, every facet of which was carved with little 
circles and centres, but it was unfortunately lost. In the 
next pair we have a diamond-shaped head, with 
a knob at each corner, and a chequered panel 
in the centre ; also a ribbon-shaped head, with 
something which may have been the sun in 
the centre. The next pair have flat horizontal 
Iri ^S!da?S n s daildn eads, but each is slightly orna- 
mented. The former is thickened near the top, 
and decorated, both by perpendicular lines and 
by a few faint cross lines, on the stem. The 
Latter has two double circles on the side of its 
head. Several curious pins from Denmark are Flat ~ b fS d pins% 
<n- raved in the AfUldning&r ; one with a head like the beak 
of a bird, and tapering down to half the length of the stem, 
appears in La Normandie Souterraine /* and a third class with a. 
cratched head, from the barrows at Aymesbury and Brigmil- 
atone, North Wilts.t 

5. General Remarks, — Quotations respecting the mode of 





• P. 878, 

t Boare. Quoted in Akcrrtu 



Arclucol. Index, i>. 56. 



pins. 233 

procuring pins have been given in the chapters referring to 
Knives and Needles. It appears, too, from the Milleres Tale, 
that they were regarded as a valuable present, and sometimes 
sent as love-tokens. 

He woeth hire by nienes and brocage, 
And swore he wolde ben hire owen page ; 
He singeth brokking as a nightingale, 
He sent hire pinnes, methe, and spiced ale.* 

In the Bequest and Suite of a True-hearted Englishman^ 
the writer speaks contemptuously of articles imported from 
abroad. He says : — 

"We pay well for oure manyfolde babies that we bye of them, and 
so force us to seke upon them to take oure cloth (which they wolde 
sew to us for if we wolde once be wyse), aud conveygh oure fyne gold 
and sylver out of this realme, to gyve them theyr owne askyug for theyr 
pynnes, theyr paynted papers, head clothes for women, with fore sieves 
and neckerchefes, glasses, hobbeyhorses, babies for our children, and 
a thousand such like thingis which all we myght well forbear." £ 

Some of them were obtained from Milan; for pins were 
included among the articles brought by the London Company 
of Hurriers or Milliners. 

In July, 1621, two thousand pins cost twentypence, or at 
the rate of a penny a hundred ;§ so that the manufacture had 
already been greatly cheapened. This circumstance gave 
origin to the expression, "Not worth a pin," or the four hun- 
dredth part of a penny. In the Interlude of the Disobedient 
Child, 1560, is the following : — 

Wherefore then I pray ye shall we go to our inne, 
And look that every thinge be made redye, 
Or els all is not worth a brasse pynne. || 
In Shakspeare we have more than one allusion to the sub- 
ject : — 

Why, what should be the fear ? 

I do not set my life at a pin's fee. 

Hamlet, i. 4. 

* Canterbury Tales, 1. 3378. J Camden Miscellany, Vol. II. 

t By William Cholmeley, Lon- § Shuttlcworth Accounts, 
dyner, 1553. II Percy Society's edition, p. 24. 



234 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



My wretchedness unto a row of pins, 
These commoners will talk of state. 

Rich. II. j iii. 4. 
In the old play of Band Ruffe and Cuffe, in which there 
are numerous puns upon the articles of dress, the following 
occurs : — 

Cuffe. — Mrs. Stitch wel, the sempster, was the very maker of you 
both, yet that little doe you regard her ; but it is the common custome 
of you all, when you come to be so greate as ye are, ye forget from what 
house you come. 

Ruffe. — 'S 'foot, Ruffe careth not a pin for her. 
Bande. — Nor Band a button. 
In the old ballad of Harpalus,* it is said : — 
For Colin was her onely joye 
Who forst her not a pinne. 
"We have also the trifling value of a pin alluded to in the 
old proverb " A pin a-day 's a groat a-year," which would be 
nearly at the rate of a penny per hundred. Of the poems of 
Alexander Arbuthnot, of Scotland, the Miseries of a Pure 
Scolear was written in the middle of the sixteenth century. 
He says : — 

All costlie clayths I compt nocht worthe ane preine,f 
Quhilk dois bot foster pryde & vanitie.J 

In Dr. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, the author shows 
in his first chapter, under the head of " Division of Labour," 
some of the detailed processes in the manufacture of a pin. 
He says it is divided into about eighteen distinct operations ; 
though, in small factories, more than one are performed by 
one person. He had examined a small factory where there 
were only ten hands employed, yet they made about 48,000 
pins per day, or 4800 each; though, if one man had performed 
all the processes, he could not have made twenty, if so many. 



* Percy's Reliques, II., 73. 

t Preen is the Scotticism for pin, 
derived from the Saxon. Thus, in 
thf o. 15. of ike Young Tamlcme. 

Bhe hai prinki .1 henell end preened bereeU 

By th« ae licUt u' the nuuu. 



"Preon in eien," a pin in the eyes. 
Ancren Riivle, 84. 

See Note on "ear-preon," in the 
article Ear-rings. 

X Chronicle of Scottish Poetry, III., 
333. 



51 






10 I! 






• t.ANT 



J.E WORRA, 



TWEEZERS, NAILS &c 



KEYS. 235 

In England alone, there are about ten tons of wire consumed 
weekly in the manufacture of pins ; and, assuming that there 
are 4000 of average size in a pound, this is equivalent to 
nearly ninety millions weekly, or 4,659,200,000 annually. 
In one of the papers in the Spectator, written in February, 
1711-12, Addison makes merry with what is known to ladies 
as " pin-money." Mrs. Fribble has an allowance of £400 a- 
year under this head, and he calculates from the data "a 
pin a-day 's a groat a-year," that she must have used 8,640,000 
new pins annually. He suggests that, as such money is used 
for many other purposes, the idea of industry might be intro- 
duced by calling it " wee^e-money." 

Fig. 3 has a glass head, like the long one given under " hair- 
pins, &c.," and pins of this kind were far from rare. The hair- 
pin of bronze, given on p. 225, with a small bead of white glass 
at the top, was found in 1850 near Bicester, seven feet below 
the surface.* Figs. 4 and 5 have been already noticed, and fig. 6 
is remarkable, as its head, when complete, appears to have 
been a circular plate. Figs. 7 and 11 are complete ; but figs. 8, 
9, 10, are fragments only. The decoration of the stem of fig. 7 
is very peculiar, and suggests what fig. 13, Plate V., may have 
been. 

There are 29 pins of this kind in the collection altogether; 
6 of my own, 8 of Mr. Smith's, and 15 of Mr. Mayer's. They 
are all brass or bronze. Of the objects engraved, fig. 9 is from 
one of my own specimens, and all the others are from those of 
Mr. Mayer. They are mediaevalf 



XX.— TWEEZERS, RIVETS, AND NAILS.— Plate XXTII. 

1. — Tweezers. 

There is no doubt that the ancient Saxons used tweezers 

extensively; and, when the process of shaving was difficult, 

such articles were frequently very convenient. Tweezers arc 

* Proceedings, S. A., II., 202. | t C. R. S. 



236 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



more usually found in connection with mortuary urns than 
with body burial ; and, in graves of the latter kind, the greater 
number have been found in connection with the remains of 
women* Several have been found in the Kentish graves ; 
also at Fairford, Chessell, and Little Wilbraham ; and in other 
countries of Europe as well as in our own. The form was not 
very varied. Sometimes a single slip of metal was bent into 
the required shape, and sometimes, as in the examples here, . 
the two sides were retained by a ring, like that of a crayon 
holder. At Long Wittenham, in Berkshire, tweezers were 
almost invariably found with remains of women, only one pair 
having been found with the remains of a man. These hung 
at his waist, near the iron ferrule of a spear, and a knife.t I 11 
the summer of 1860, another pair of bronze, very small, was 
found in an urn, with calcined human bones, and some other 
metallic objects. A broad and interesting pair of tweezers was 
found at Kingston Down, in Kent, and they are commonly found 
in the graves of North Germany. J Some are figured in the A r- 
chceolor/ia, of very large and coarse construction, to one of which 
is appended an ear-pick. They were often accompanied by a 
small knife, or by a needle and awl of bronze. In the Antiqua 
Explorata, a curious pair of tweezers is strung with an ear-pick ; 
a small band of wire, instead of a metal runner, surrounds 
the two sides, and increases the prehensile power of the im- 
plement ; and others were found in the Saxon cemetery of 
Linton Heath, Cambridgeshire^ We know that the desire 
foT depilatory performance is still exhibited by the American 
[ndiana and others; and depilatories are now common, not 
only in Paris but in London. It has been said by some, 
however, that these instruments were not used for this purpose 
ai .ill, or at least exclusively; but that they were employed 
ring. It is supposed that they held together the two 
Bides of a s.-am, like the "clams" or wooden forceps which a 



* [nyentorium Sepulchrale, p. xwiii. 
\ taehaologia, xxxvin.. pp, 381, 



J [bid., XXXVI.. p. 877. 

§ Archwological Joarn., XI., 99,103. 



TWEEZERS, RIVETS, AND NAILS. 237 

shoemaker still uses to hold the two pieces of leather in their 
position. The accompanying figure is one to which this sup- 
position applies. 




Tweezers or Forceps, full size. 

Of the objects on Plate XXII., fig. 1 has been pronounced 
to be " elaborate Roman tweezers ; " * and another antiquary 
has pronounced fig. 2 to be Eoman. f But similar objects 
were found among the remains of various classes of people; 
and this fact increases the difficulty of fixing their national 
connection positively. 

There are 'six pairs among these objects; one in the posses- 
sion of Mr. Smith, and five in that of Mr. Mayer. The 
material of one of the latter appears to be iron. Both of the 
objects engraved on Plate XXIII. are bronze, and belong to 
Mr. Mayer. 

2. — Rivets. 

In the pre-christian period, vast numbers of rivets of a very 
minute kind were sometimes used in the construction of 
brazen implements, many hundreds being required, at times, 
for the construction of a single one. These may be seen in 
connection with the large brazen trumpets preserved in the 
Royal Irish Academy ; but the commoner rivets of a more 
tecent period were invented in Germany, to hold on the over- 
Lapping plates of armour. They are accordingly often spoken 
of as Almayn rivets. Thus, in the Inventory of the Goods 
of Dame Agnes Hungerford, among the " percelles left in the 
Castle of Farley" we read, 1523 ; — 

Item, — In the same castelle,sex score pare of liarnes of A] man ryvetts 
and brygendens, with 1 sheffe of arrows.^ 

* A. W. F. | t ArchaBologia, XXXVIII., 3G8. 

+ C. K. S. 



238 



TAUT II. — THE OBJECTS. 



Also in Queen Jane and Queen Mary, we have the following- 
passage, ajd. 1554 :* — 

Bought of John Skelton, smyth, a payer of Allemaine ryvetts, lakyng 
ij taces and a gorgett, viij s . 

In the Shuttleworth Accounts of June, 1661, we read : — 
Fy ve C of brasse ryvetts, xviij d . f 

The rivets in this collection are either small brass ones, used 
in the manufacture of minute objects, or they are the large 
iron ones denominated bolts. 

3. — Nails. 

All the nails of the olden time were of wrought iron, the 
present processes for their rapid manufacture being unknown. 
Eoman nails have been found at Uriconium, in the very slates 
which they attached to the roofs ; and, in like manner, flat- 
headed nails have been found at Caerwent,f in the tiles for 
roofing, and elsewhere, § of the same type as those discovered in 
the later British barrows. Numerous long spike-nails have been 
found in various parts of England, as at Lullsworth (now Spital- 
fields), in 1516, || at Colchester,1F at Bourne Park near Canter- 
bury,** at Boxmoor in Herts, ft and elsewhere. Some have 
supposed that these were used to fasten together the large 
boxes in which men were interred, and their goods along with 
them, others say that they held together the logs of funeral 
piles ; but an opinion, which is strongly held by others, is, that 
the Eoman punishment of crucifixion was common in Britain, 
and that these are the nails which attached the malefactor to 
the cross. Jt 

In the early part of the eleventh century, workmen at 
W ml annum found certain oak planks with nails in them, and 
covered with pitch; they were supposed to be part of an 
ancienl ship.§§ Large Norman nails still remain in several of 



* Queen Jane and Queen Mary, 125. 
t Bhuttleworth Accounts, p. 250. 
X Archsaologia, XXXVI., p, 429. 
\ rehssological Journal, VI., 404. 
P Boe. Antiquaries, 

Vol. II., p. L9I. 



f Ibid. Vol. II., p. 171. 
** Ibid. Vol. II., p. 79. 
ft Archaologia, XXXIV., p, 394. 
XI Proceedings, Soc. Antiquaries, 
Vol. II. pp. 83, 84, 94, 121. 
§§ Archsaologia, XXX., p. 441. 



RINGS. 



239 



our church doors, and smaller ones, in the Norman book-cover f 
mentioned by Scott, in the library of Durham Cathedral.* 

About ten years ago, two large nails were shown from the 
door of the ancient chapel at Kilbride, near Dunblane ;-f- and 
still more recently, in taking down an old house at Annan, it 
was found that the slates had been fastened on by pegs made 
of the leg-bones of sheep. 

The door-nails just mentioned are referred to in the Shuttle- 
worth Accounts, page 146, where he says : — 

iiij hundreth of dower nales of the lesser sort, le hundreth ij 9 . iiij d . 
ix s . iiij d . 

To such as these we are indebted for the common proverb, 

" As dead as a door-nail," which, of course, only moves as it 

is moved. J In the Expenses of the Wardrobe of Edward III. 

mention is made of : — 

C clavi de ferro.§ 

In 1554, the treatise known as Queen Jane and Queen Mary, 
gives us the following entry : — 

lether and nayles to mend the hemes, j d . ob .|| 

In 1586, we find the following entry in the Shuttleworth 
A ccounts : — 

Making a thousand and foure schore horce nails of youre owne ieron, 
xviij d . 

Of the small bronze nails engraved here, there are only nine ; 
eight in the possession of Mr. Mayer, and one in Mr. Ainslie's. 
Figs. 12, 13, 14, are from the former, and fig. 15 from the latter. 
They are all mediaeval. 



XXI. — RINGS. — Plate XXIY. 

1. — Finger Eings. 

1. Introduction. — The employment of rings is unquestionably 

very ancient, extending back almost to the time of Tubal-Cain. 

From the earliest references to them, it would appear that 



* Antiquarian Gleanings in the 
North of England, Plate iv. 

t Proceeding of the Soc. Antiq , 
Scotland, I., 149. 

t But George he did the dragon kill 



As dead as any door -nail. 

Old llnlUi I. St. (ifi.rgtftr England. 

§ Archaeologia, XXXI., 40. 
|| That is, l^d., "ob." meaning 
obolus. 



240 PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 

they were badges of office, or marks of government ; and they 
were no doubt employed to seal public documents. Thus, 
Pharaoh invested Joseph* with a ring in delegating to him 
authority in Egypt. But at the same period, or shortly 
subsequent, rings were used as personal decorations; for a 
mummied hand, in the possession of Mr. Mayer, has a beautiful 
obelisk for its stone, lying along the direction of the finger. 
The nomad people called Midianites, who were conquered 
by Moses, and eventually overthrown by Gideon,f possessed 
large numbers of rings among their personal ornaments. It 
would appear from the Assyrian sculptures, that finger-rings 
were unknown among these people, their place being supplied 
by more massive bracelets and armlets. J 

With other nations of antiquity they were common, and 
the collections of our English antiquaries embrace numerous 
lloman rings. Some of these are noticed in connection with 
keys ; but of Eoman rings proper, one probably intended for 
the thumb was found at Kirkby Thore, in Westmoreland. § 
Others have been found by Dr. Bruce along the line of the 
Eoman wall ; and one of bronze at Caerwent, in Monmouth- 
shire. At Uriconium several have been found, and of very 
varied materials. Near Chilgrove, in Sussex, two rings were 
found in 1843, supposed to have belonged to Eoman Christians.|| 
At some ancient British burial-places at Stanlake, Oxfordshire, 
a spiral bronze finger-ring was discovered. Eoman rings were 
at first of iron, and the right to wear gold ones was originally 
restricted to the rich.1T Hannibal procured, literally, bushels 
of rings from the conquered Eomans ; and, among the latter, 
collections of rings were not uncommon. Of Saxon and more 
modern rings there are numerous examples. 

2. Materials. — (l<>l<l was the most valuable material; and 

rings <>f gold were worn by the rich when they could be had. 

Sometimes, also, rings of an inferior metal were valuable from 

aeiiaxli., xlii § Archrool., XXXI., 286. 

[ Numbers xxxi.; Judges tHL Arch»o]., XXXL, 312. 

wrd'i niufltration8 of Nineveh. ^ Sec Jame* ii. 2. 



RINGS. 



241 



their structure, decoration, or peculiarity 
ring of the fifteenth century was found 
at Haddon Hall, in Derbyshire, about 
1860. It bears the figure of St. John 
the Baptist, with the lamb : and, from 



A beautiful gold 




The Haddon ring. 




The ring expanded. 

the poesy or inscription, was evidently a gift. (Reliquary, II., 
47.) The inscription is tit fco en CXI CV t (de bon cow) Eings 
of silver, bronze, brass, and copper, were common ; and even 
those of lead, amber, glass, ivory, and wood. At Uriconium 
" they have been discovered of silver, yellow bronze, bronze 
with iron wire, bronze with open-work on one side, and a 
fragment of one of wood." * In the collection of the Eoyal 
Irish Academy, there are rings of bone ; f and at Killarney 
numerous cheap rings are sold, said to be made of the wild 
deer's hoof. 

So important a business was the making of rings, that it 
was separated from the ordinary work of the goldsmith ; and 
the trade of the Annular ins, or ring-maker, J was a distinct one. 



* Wright's Uriconium, 86. 

f Wilde's Catalogue, p. 335. 

% In the previous pages, various 
occupations have been noticed which 
no longer exist among us ; so that a 
glance at some of the trades past and 
present may be instructive. The shoe- 
maker, saddler, and nailer still exist ; 
the dish-turner is found in rural dis- 
tricts, where wooden bowls and tren- 
chers yet survive ; the wigmaker is 
now one who occupies leisure hours 
with what was formerly an important 
business ; we possess the term pin- 
maker like watchmaker, but there is 
in reality no such person, as each is 
one name for numerous occupations. 
Buttonmakers are still to be found, 



who are occupied with manufacturing 
a particular class of buttons. The 
blacksmith turns out objects in dark 
iron, and the whitesmith those in 
polished metal ; the locksmith and the 
gunsmith are named from articles 
which they produce, and the copper- 
smith, silversmith, and goldsmith, 
from the materials with which they 
work. 

The arkwright was occupied in 
making the large oak chests with 
carved fronts, still to be seen in farm- 
houses ; the cartwright or wainwright 
made carts or waggons ; the wheel- 
wright made spinning-wheels about 
thirty years ago, but the term now 
denotes a person who makes the 



242 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



3. Uses. — Besides tlieir uses as signets or seals, for which 
their attachment to the person made them peculiarly appro- 
priate, they were always desired as ornaments. They thus 
came to denote quality, as in the expression from an old play — 
I am a gentleman, looke on my ring ; 
Eansomme me at what thou wilt, it shall be paid.* 
A ring was part of a prize for archery • as mentioned in one 
of the Kobin Hood ballads — 

A greate courser, with saddle and brydle, 

With gold burnished full bright ; 
A payre of gloves, a red golde ring, 

A pipe of wyne, good fay ; 
What man bereth him best, I wis, 
The prize shall bear away.f 
It is often represented in ancient poetry as having been the 
token to a porter to open the gates ; and not unfrequently it 
red the purpose of a bribe — 

The porter gan him wite, 

And seyd " cherl, go oway, 
Other y schal the smite, 

What dostow here all day ? " 



wheels for various kinds of carriages. 
Sc later is the old form of slater (as 
sclate is of slate) ; stringer means 
rope- maker ; and the Scottish soutar 
is the Latin sutor, a shoemaker. The 
cobbler is distinguished from the shoe- 
maker, as being a mender only ; and the 
botcher was formerly a mender of ordi- 
nary clothing, as distinguished from a 
tailor who makes new garments. 

Of the terms which have become 
obsolete, and several of which are 
noticed under tlieir proper beads, are 
the bowver and llctcher ; the buckle- 
maker, ringmaker, broochmaker, and 
claspmaker j the girdler or beltmaker, 

the capper, v. ho was the hatter of his 
time, and the haud-caseinaker or 

glorer. To these maj be added the 
cap-mender* the casemaker, the huck- 

r. &c. 



Many of these might still be found 
in the second part of one of our de- 
cennial censuses, showing that, though 
an occupation has almost disappeared, 
it still has its representatives some- 
where in England ; and of course 
other trades have come into existence 
with names which our forefathers 
never knew. Many of the names of 
extinct trades survive in the surnames 
of families, as Arkwright, Cartwrighr, 
Wainwright, Lorhner, Sclater, Bow- 
ver, Stringer, Fletcher, Cordiner 
(shoemaker), Frobisher (furbisher), 
Kembster, Lavender (washerman), 
Shearman, \c, &C. 

* First Fart of the Contention; 
York and Lane. Shaks. Soc. 

t A Litil Gcste.— Ritson, 



KINGS. 



243 



A ring he Taught him tite,* 
The porter seyd nought nay.f 
Sometimes also the ring was employed as an inducement to a 
wife to perform her duty — 

I have conditioun of aue curchef crisp, or silk ; 
Ane gown of engraynit clayth, richt gaylie furrit ; 
Ane ring with royal stane ; or other ryche juell.J 
In an ancient Scottish poem called the Freirs of Berioik, a 
woman as prond as a parrot is represented as having two 
rings on each finger — 

Ou ilk aue fynger scho weirit ringis two, 
Scho was als proud as any papingo. 
That rings were worn on the thumb is evident, not only 
from the size of some of them, but from the analogous practice 
still common in the east. Chaucer also says in the Sqwkres 

Tale— 

Upon his thombe,§ he had of gold a ring, 
And by his side, a naked swerd hanging. 

In the same poem, a magical ring is mentioned winch is worn 

in like manner on the thumb — 

The vertue of this ring, if ye wol here, 
Is this, that if hire list it for to were 
Upon hire thombe, or in hire purse it here, 
Ther is no foule that fleeth under heven 
That she ne schal wel understand. 

Occasionally, also, the finger of the skeleton is found sur- 
rounded by the ornament which was coveted and prized 
during life. In the year 1697, a woman was drowned for 
theft in the Loch of Spynie, in Morayshire, and in 1811 the 
skeleton was brought to light with a ring on its finger. In 



* Reached him quickly. 

t Sir Tristrem, Fytte, I., v. 53. A 
similar scene occurs in the old ballad 
of King Estmere. 

Then they pulled out a ryng of gold, 

Layd it on the porter's arme ; 
And ever we wiU thee, proud porter, 

That thow saye us no harme, 
Sore he looked on Kyng Estmere, 

And sore he handled the ryng, 
Then opened to them the fayre hall yates, 

lie lett for no kynd of tbyng. 

Pernjt IUlitjurt. I.. 7" 



X Dunbar, Twa Mariit "VVemen 
and the Wedo. 

§ There is in my own possession, a 
large copper thumb-ring of the 15th 
century. It bears the letters I H C, 
and is said to have been the signet of 
some one connected with the Abbey 
of Lancaster. 



244 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

1862, in some discoveries made at Pompeii, a body was too 
far decayed to be touched ; but liquid plaster of Paris was 
poured in upon it, and a casting was taken, which came out 
with such accuracy that a ring was found on the finger. In 
a woman's grave at Kingston Down, the analogous case was 
found, of a brass armilla surrounding the bone of the arm* 
In the excavation of an Anglo-Saxon burial-place at Harnham 
Hill, near Salisbury, a silver twisted ring was found on the 
middle finger bone of a skeleton ;f and in some sepulchral 
objects from Italy, Styria, and Mecklenburg, obtained by the 
late J. M. Kemble, Esq., was a finger-ring of bronze, in which 
the bone still lay. The Abbe Cochet mentions this as a usual 
occurrence, and represents it by a woodcut — 

Au doigt de la main sont les bagues ou des anneaux d'or, d' argent, 
de cuivre, ou de bronze. Quelques unes de ces bagues sontunies, mais 
d'autres ont des chatons en agate, en venoterie rouge ou vert, ou des 
croix encaustees sur metal. Communement, elles sont encore passees 
au doiglit qui les porta, dont la phalange est toute verdie par l'oxyde 
da bronze.:}: 

2. — Peculiar Kings. 
Some were used as whistles ; one of which resembles, in 
general appearance, ours, Plate XXIV., fig. 6. Others have 
been manufactured to serve as squirts; and an ancient watch 
occupies the place of a stone in a ring. Among the Danish 
rings is one consisting of a thick hoop of amber, with a Runic 
inscription surrounding it.§ Bronze rings, with broad expand- 
ed ends overlapping each other, have been found near the spot 
traditionally known as the burial-place of Macbeth. || A very 
peculiar ring of silver wire, half the circle of which is thrown 
up into peculiar loops, was found on the finger of a skeleton 
by Sir Beniy Dryden, Bart., in 1843, at Barrow Furlong, in 
Northamptonshire.^! In the Fairford graves, a ring was found 
along will) an cur-pick and pins. 

Invcntor'nun Sepulchrale, p, 62. 

t Figured Archeeol., XXXV.. PL 
. 1 1. 

X LaNormtadie Bouterraine,p. 20. 



§ Worsasa, Aflnld., p. 87. 

|| Wilson's Prehistoric Annals, 327. 

% Arohssolog., XXXIII., 332. 



XXI 


















10 








18 



14 



J E WC1 






KINGS. 



245 



Ordinary curtain rings were well known to our ancestors. 
For example, in the Expenses of the Wardrobe of Edward III., 
1345-49, sixty rings of copper are mentioned; and again, a 
hundred rings of copper, to be used in the construction of red 
curtains for the king's chamber. Eor a similar purpose, two 
hundred copper rings are ordered at another time * We see 
such divisions of apartments in the drawings which decorate 
old manuscripts; and it is evident that when large rooms 
served for numerous purposes, such temporary partitions were 
indispensable. ISTo doubt they resembled the divisions by 
curtains still in use in school-rooms, or the partitions in the 
large sleeping apartments of the model lodging-houses of our 
own day. Certain carved statues in front of Barneck Church, 
Xorthampton, of the time of Henry VI. and VII., stand each 
in front of a curtain with rings.f In the expenses of John of 
Brabant, and Thomas and Henry of Lancaster, 1292-3, J men- 
tion is made of silver rings and thongs for the bascinets. 
There are other lar^e rings, the uses of which are uncertain. 

One of brass, an inch and five- 
eighths in diameter, was found in 
a woman's grave, and may have 
served as an extempore brooch. 
Some coarse linen cloth was found 
along with it ; and it is clear that, 
a piece of the cloth being drawn 
through the ring, a pin of any 
material could have been inserted 

Brass King with quadruple lines. aCTOSS it. Ill many HllgS of this 

class, and in some buckles, a simple style of ornamentation is 
observable. It consists of cross lines in sets; in this instance 
there are eight sets of four. In Plate XXIV., fig. 5, there are 
three sets of six ; and in Plate XXV., fig. 2, there are three 
sets of three. 




* Archoeol., XXXI., pp. 22, 32, 36, 
54, &c. 

t Carter's Ancient Sculpture and 



Painting. 
X Camden Miscellany, II., 7, 



PARI 11. — THE OBJECTS. 

The use of the ring in matrimony has come down to us from 
ill" earliest Christian times. At present it is usually plain 
and of gold, but formerly a frequent symbol was that of the 
Berpent with its tail in its mouth, indicating affection in per- 
] if laity. This gave origin to gymnal rings, which resembled 
tin' ordinary split rings for keys, except that the two parts 
could be shown separately though joined like links, and formed 
a complete ring when joined together. It is probably a gym- 
nal ring to which Emilia alludes in Othello IV., 2, when she 
says — 

"Many, I would not do such a thing for a joint ring, nor for mea- 
sures of lawn, nor for gowns, petticoats, and caps." 
One is figured by Hone ; * and others, separating into three 
and even four rings, were shown in the temporary loan museum 
at South Kensington. The inner inscription on one is, Quod 
dcus conjanxit, homo non separet. The ring was, therefore, an 
ordinary love-token, either when broken or when two were 
exchanged. The old ballads speak frequently of wooing with 
brooch and ring (see Brooch) ; and Lord Gregory exchanged a 
gold ring for a diamond one with Annie of Lochryan.f 

5. Rings in this Collection, — The rings in this collection are 
of three classes : — I. Large rings like curtain rings, of which 
! 3 in all ; viz., 32 brass or bronze, 7 iron, and 4 lead. J 
1 1. Finger-rings ; viz., 2 gold, 1 silver, 15 bronze, and 2 lead. § 
I IL Small rings, thin and flat, about a quarter of an inch in 
diameter, the uses of which are not accurately known. Of 
these there are 45, all of them brass, except one of lead. The 
fourteen represented on Plate XXIV., are all of the class 
Finger-rings. 

is of gold, carefully engraved on its sides; and on the 



Fig. 1 



B . il . l. 

••'..k'ory, 

1 



X Of these, 4 belong to Mr. Mayer, 
13 to Mr. Smith, and 26 to myself. 

§ Of these, 3 belong to Mr. Ainslie, 
3 to Mr. Smith, 3 to myself, and 11 

to Mr. Ma; or. 



kixgs. 247 

metal is a rude shield, surmounted by the letters A. G-. Fig. 2 
is of silver, fluted throughout, with the letter U on a che- 
quered base of the metal. These two are evidently much 
more modern than the others. Fig. 6, which is also of gold, 
resembles some of the more primitive ones of brass or bronze. 

Figs. 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 13, are all of brass or bronze. 
There is a space for a setting in fig. 3, which appears to have 
been filled with blue colour. Fig. 4 is a portion of a spiral 
ring, which may have had another complete coil, and may 
have terminated in small knobs. Fig. 5 is open, but it appears 
to have been so originally, and never to have been fractured. 
At each of three places on its upper edge there appear to have 
been six incised lines. Figs. 7 and 11 have 
also vacant spaces for stones ; the latter is sup- 
posed to be Eoman. Figs. 8, 9, and 12, are 
examples of the knotted ring, where each end 
was looped over the other side ; and, by a little 
suver suding King, gentle expansion or contraction, the ring could 
easily be fitted to various sizes of fingers. Figs. 8 and 12 are 
curiously ornamented with a pattern which is quite visible in 
the engraving ; and 9 may -have been so in like manner, but 
nothing of the kind is now visible. 

An object like fig. 13 is engraved among the brooches, 
(Plate VI., fig. 4), the pin serving as a diameter between the 
ornamented and unornamented semicircles. Possibly this 
may have been used for a similar purpose, though it does not 
exhibit any signs of the attrition of the pin. 

Figs. 10 and 14 are lead, and smaller than the others ; the 
latter is like the toy rings frequently sold to children. 

If the conjecture be correct that any of these are Eoman, 
the dates of those represented will probably ran-!' from the 
4th to the 17th century. Figs. 1,2, and f>, which represent 
gold and silver rings, are from Mr. Ainslie's collection ; figs. I, 
10, and 11, from that of Mr. Smith ; fig. 5 Brora my own, and 
the remaining seven from that of Mr. Mayer. 




248 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



XXII.— EAE-EINGS.— Plate XXV. 

1. Introduction. — Though ear-rings may not be more ancient 
than finger-rings, we notice a record of them at an earlier 
period. The servant of Abraham is said to have given a 
golden ear-ring to Eebecca, but it is sometimes understood to 
have been an ornament for the forehead. At all events, ear-rings, 
which are known to nations of very different degrees of civili- 
zation, were common among the Israelites, Midianites, and 
Egyptians. The Assyrians also, especially the men, wore ear- 
rings, sometimes both massive and beautiful ;* and the ladies 
both of Greece and Eome wore ear-rings. 

Among the Eoman antiquities found at Eeculver,f in Kent, 
is a supposed ear-ring of gold ; but its use is a little doubtful. 
In the year 1812, Dr. Lee found a pair of beautiful silver ear- 
rings in the Ionian Islands, a woodcut of which is given in 
the Archceologia, XXXIIL, 46. Each opens and shuts by two 
hooks, and is embellished by three globules with elevated 
circles, like equators surrounding "them. A large drop orna- 
ment is suspended, surrounded and intersected by elegant 
filigree work, with an ornament like the figure 8 in three of 
the quadrants, which unite in a pyramid. The remains of a 
Erankish warrior, discovered at Envermeu, in the Lower Seine, 
by the Abbe Cochet, exhibited a pair of ear-rings of base silver, 
with torqued circles closed by a hook and eye.J Among the 
Eaussett antiquities, ear-rings of silver were extremely common; 
they were found in seventeen of the Kingston graves, in seven 
at Sibertswold, and in others at Gilton and Barfriston. 
Ear-rings of bronze were also known ; and one of this material 
was found among the Anglo-Saxon objects at Fairford§ in 
Gloucestershire. Others are both figured and described by 



* See Layard's Illustrations of 
Nineveh, PI. v. ; and especially PI. 
xii., where there are numerous cruci- 
form ear-rings. On PI. xxxiv. they 
are bell-shaped, and some like half of 
a crayon. 



t Smith, 213. 

X Archajol., XXXVII., 102. 

§ Ibid., XXXVII., 146. 



XXV 












io (J 



■ 



r worrall, 






EAR-RINGS. 



249 




Eronze Ear-rings from the 
Swiss Eakes. 



M. Troyon, from the lakes of Switzer- 
land.* Two, which consist of threads of 
bronze, are reproduced here. No doubt 
they were also made of other alloys of 
copper, and of lead. 

Among the Anglo-Saxon and kindred nations it would 
appear that ear-rings were almost confined to females. In 
most of the instances mentioned by Faussett, he states that 
they were found in a woman's grave ; and several circumstances 
lead to the conclusion, that the Frankish warrior just alluded 
to was an Amazon, f In some antiquities from Italy, Styria, 
and Mecklenburg, all the female figures have their ears bored, 
and each has a loop at the back of the head for the suspension 
of similar ornaments. An ornament in gold, supposed to have 
been an ear-ring, was discovered in Suffolk, and a silver ear- 
ring at Bury St. Edmunds, both supposed to be Saxon. " The 
gold ring was formed with several round wires, curiously twist- 
ed like a rope, tapering towards the extremities, which were 
united together, forming a ring or hook, to which a smaller 
ring or hook might be adjusted for suspension to the ear." J 

We are sometimes surprised at the nature of the objects 
which are called ear-rings, for we think only of our own 
methods of insertion and suspension. The knotted rings 
were no doubt loosed, and fastened again after being passed 
through the ear ; and, when open, an old pendant could be 
removed and replaced by a new one. 

Also, metallic hooks, like those in use among ourselves, 
were frequently placed in the ears ; 
and thus many objects could be sus- 
pended. Annexed are two which were 
found in the grave of an Anglo-Saxon 
woman of distinction, along with nu- 
merous beads and other articles for 
suspension. The articles suspended ,, :l 




n 



y 



Ear Hook, No. 1. 



* Habitations Lacustres, PL xi., 
figs. 21, 22. 
t Archseol. XXXVIL, 109. 



\ Proceedings of the Society of 
Antiquaries, I., 117. 



250 



PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 




included rings themselves, and the objects which they sus- 
tained ; and thus we see how massive and complete rings were 
i 2 made pendent from the ears. Some were 

used along with beads, as mere pensile 
ornaments, especially by women. A 
little object like a bulla was found in 
a woman's grave,* along with a knotted 
Buiia, and Eing for Suspension, brass ring, on which was a small piece 

of brass like a spangle. The same general idea is shown still 

more clearly in the 

adjoining cut, where 

two large beads are 

represented as strung 

on iron rings. Each 

is of coarse baked 

earth, and striped with 

red, white, and yellow. 

These also were found in a woman's grave, f 

In the Anglo-Saxon graves, the rings of silver were generally 

knotted each upon itself, like our figs. 8, 9, and 12, or like the 

ring for suspension above. In the collection of the late Lord 




Iron Rings with Beads, for Ear-Pendants. 



Londesborough is a silver 



found at Breach Downs, 



near Canterbury. It is broad in the middle; but the two 
extremes, like fine wire, are twisted round each other. It 
was usual for one or more beads, sometimes very beautiful, 
to be suspended on these rings. The practice returned 
again in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, J and is 
rebuked by Stubbs in his Anatomy of Abuses. Amethyst 
drops were common ; but the ornaments, as may be seen from 
illustrative plates, were very varied, and in one instance a piece 
of ivory appears to have been suspended at the ring, though only 
the slip of brass and its rivet (used for suspending the ivory) 
now remain. In one example at Kingston, six such silver 
rings were found with one corpse, and with another eight 



* Inv. Sep., p. ill. 
t lb., p. 136. 



I Faiiholt, 493. 



EAR-RINGS. 



251 



amethyst drops. Mr. Wylie also states, in his account of the 
Fairford graves, that the rings were found with beads npon 
them near the skull of a skeleton. Alexander ISfeckam* 
speaks of inaures, which are explained by omamenta aurium, 
and elsewhere are called " ear-preons " or ear-pins.-f- 

Savage nations sometimes employ ear-rings of a very un- 
usual kind. In my own possession are three, made by splitting 
a boar's tusk, and scraping each piece round; so that they 
must have hung in a curve, either forward on the cheek or 
round the jaw. Another is simply a square pencil of green 
stone ; and another has been described to me as resembling a 
cork with swollen extremities, passed through the lobe of the 
ear. All these are from New Zealand. In Denmark and the 
neighbouring countries the teetli of animals were suspended 
by hooks. J 

Two beautiful gold ear-rings, in- 
tended to grip the 
ear like ours, figs. 1, 
2, 3, are here en- 
graved from the col- 
lection of the Eoyal 
Irish Academy. The 
larger, which is 
torque-like, weighs 1 2 xorque-ute gold King, 

dwts. 9 grs. ; and the smaller, with a wheel- 
like ornament on its centre, weighs 9 dwts. 4 grs. 

2. Objects in this Collection. — The ear-rings in this collection 
are 58 in all ; viz., one of silver, 54 of brass or bronze, and 3 
of lead.§ All the varieties are pretty well represented by the 





Gold Ring with wheel- 
like ornament. 



* Mayer's Vocabulary, 101. 

t Inauris, an ear-preon. Ang.-Sax. 
Vocab. (11 th cent.) An ear-preon, 
Semi-Sax. Vocab. (12th cent.) In the 
former work, the word Spinther is 
denned, as "dole, oththe preon." In 
the Scottish dialect, a pin i3 still 
spoken of as a " preen." 



t Guide to North. Ach. Elles- 
mere, 55. 

§ Of these, Mr. Ainslie possesses 
one or more, Mr. Mayer 17, Mr. 
Smith 22, and there are 18 in my 
own possession. 



252 PART IL — THE OBJECTS. 

objects on the plate. Tigs. 1, 2, 3, are of brass or bronze; 
thick in the middle, but tapering, as was usual, to the points. 
In this case, however, the overlapping wire does not seem to 
have been broken off, as the rings appear to be complete. 
The ear was not pierced, but was merely held between the 
points by the elasticity of the metal. The largest of them has 
three notches at each of three places on its surface, in this 
respect slightly resembling, as we have seen, PL XXIV., fig. 5. 

From the construction of the opening in fig. 4, it appears to 
have been an ear-ring, not a finger-ring; and fig. 6, in its 
delicacy of structure, and the fact of its suspending a bead, 
resembles those of the Faussett collection. Fig. 5, of bronze 
wire, is extremely curious, and must have been a beautiful 
object when new. 

Figs. 7, 8, 9, and 10, appear to be more modern, though 
each is of a distinct type from the others. Fig. 7 is brass, 8 
silver, and 9 and 10 lead. 

Of those which are engraved, fig. 4 is from Mr. Ainslie's 
collection, figs. 5 and 6 from Mr. Smith's, 2 and 3 from my 
own, and all the rest from Mr. Mayer's. 



XXIIL— FISH-HOOKS.— Plate XXVI. 

1. General Remarks. — There are three primitive fish-hooks 
in my own possession, obtained from the Maories of New 
Zealand. They consist of rude pieces of wood, each fitted 
with an iron nail at its point ; but one of them is lined with 
mother-of-pearl. A more primitive one still is delineated in 
Thoms's edition of Worsaces Primccval Antiquities, p. 19. 
It is of pure flint. One of the same form and material 
is in the collection of Mr. Mayer of Liverpool : it was 
found in the S. E. of Yorkshire, with numerous articles of 
flint, which are described in Mr. Wright's Essays, vol. I., p. 1. 
A fish-hook of bronze from the Thames, is described in Mr. 
Smith's Catalogue of London Antiquities, p. 77, and one ^( 



XXYU 







SPOO.; S, &C. 




scissors. 25$ 

bone in Schoolcraft's Archives, vol. II., p. 87. Those which 
are figured in Gwillirn as armorial emblazonings, are very 
broad at the top, as if for security of fastening. 

The fish-hooks from Norway, in the International Exhibi- 
tion, have the shank slightly bent forward towards the point, 
apparently not from accident, but design. Probably they were 
thus more easily fastened on the line. The manufac- 
ture of a modern fish-hook consists of numerous 
processes, like that of a pin or needle ; and large 
numbers are produced by Mr. Thomas Lewis of Red- 
ditch, in Worcestershire. The scarcity of fish-hooks 
in the collection of the Eoyal Irish Academy, shows 
that the people lived more by the land than by the 
sea. The annexed cut shows their only specimen. 

Only Fish-hook 

SfeSiS^It is of bronze. 

2. Fish-hooks in this Collection. — These amount to sixty- 
three in all, of which three are of brass or bronze, and sixty 
of iron. More than fifty of them are in the possession of Mr. 
Smith. Of those which are engraved on Plate XXVI., figs. 1 
and 2 are bronze, and figs. 3, 4, 5, iron. The construction of 
fig. 1 is very curious. Sheet metal about the thickness of 
paper is beaten up into a solid mass, and made to assume the 
required shape, and the junction or seam may be easily traced 
down its side. It is difficult to assign dates to them ; but 
those of yellow metal are probably as old as the fourteenth 
century, while those of iron, even when preserved in the peat, 
probably do not extend beyond the seventeenth. An eminent 
ant i(juary places several of them in the early Roman period, 
and says that they were employed in catching the Bunfish, 



XXIV.— SCISSORS. -Plate XXVI. 
The general form of the Roman and Saxon shears may be 
seen in onr ordinary sheep-shears : or as engraved by Wbrsaaa 
from those in the museum at Copenhagen.* On Rngliah 

• Afbildninger, 71. 



254 



PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 



brasses, scissors generally denoted a wool-merchant ; but in 
North Leach Church, Gloucestershire, a tailor stands on a pair 
of shears.* Mr. Cutts says, that on incised slabs the cloth or 
wool merchant was certainly indicated, and examples may be 
seen in his plates, from Bake well in Derbyshire, and Bam- 
boroughf in Northumberland; from Hexham, J and from 
Horton also, in Northumberland. § On several of the tombs at 
Iona, probably those of females, are engraved a comb, a pair 
of scissors, or a mirror, and sometimes two or all of these. || 
In Aston's Manchester Guide (1588), quoted in the Shuttle- 
worth Accounts, p. 377, a "payre of sheerman's sheares" is 
valued at three shillings. At Eye was discovered a pair of 
scissors of iron, and at Stade on the Elbe several pairs of brass 
shears, like the modern sheep-shears, but so small that they 
appear to have been used as children's toys. Those described 
by the late J. M. Kemble, Esq., and figured in the Archaeolo- 
gia,H do not exceed two inches in length. The Eoman scissors 
found at Kichborough, appear coarse and clumsy articles. 
Shears, precisely similar to the fragment given here, were found 
in women's graves, in Faussett's** diggings in Kent. In a 
man's grave, an instrument was found which Eaussett calls 
pincers, but which appears to have been shears, like those used 
for metals, ft the handles being much longer than the blades. 
In La Normandie Souterraine, p. 20, the Abbe Cochet gives 
an engraving of a pair of shears very much resembling our 
own. They appear to have formed part of the equipment of 
a barbarian soldier, and their points are inserted in a leathern 
sheath. A pair of iron shears, much corroded, but of the usual 
form, was found within an urn at Newark JJ in Nottingham* 
shire, along with some bones, bronze tweezers, and a bone 



* Oxford Manual of Brasses, lvii. 
t Cutts, Plate li. 
X lb., Plate lx. 
§ [bid., Plate lvii. 
|| Blackie's Guide, p. GJ. Dr. Alex- 
ander, p. 1G7. 



1 Archaxrtogia, XXXVI., p. 278. 

•• Inventorium Sepulehrale, p. 
xxxiii., Plate xv., figB. 20, 20. 

ft [bid* PI xx., 29. 

Xt Milner on Cemetery Burial, 
Archaeological Journal, iii., 195. 



BELLS. 



255 



comb. In an early Anglo-Saxon barrow, at Barhain Downs, 
was found a pair of shears much like that figured here. They 
were used by Anglo-Saxon ladies, probably suspended from 
the girdle* 

" M. Troyon nous fait comprendre que les ciseaux dont il 
parle, out ete trouves k la ceinture du mort : MM. Linden- 
schmit le demontrent, en figurant la ceinture d'un squelette 
charge d'un peigne, d'un couteau, de ciseaux, d'un bracelet, 
d'une coupe, et d'une foule d'ornements. Ce sujet, si riche en 
objeta de coquetterie, parait etre une femme splendidement 
paree. Faudra-t-il conclure de la que tons les corps qui pre- 
sentent la cisaeile sont des femmes ?" f 

M. Troyon has figured a pair, of iron, found at La Tene on 
the Lake of Neuchatel ; J they are of the usual type. A pair 
was found at Towcester with some Eoman remains ; § and a 
pair of well-made Saxon ones, in a burial-place in Notts ;|| but 
the general form is unaltered. 

It is impossible to assign a definite date to the implement, 
a portion of which is here given, as similar objects have ranged 
over many centuries. Its antiquity may be inferred from its 
companion articles. "They may be Roman ;"1F ° they are me- 
diaeval at least."** We learn from Hey wood's "Mery Play," 
1530, that the scissors were sometimes used as a weapon of 
offence or defence — 

Eech me my dystaf or my clypyng sherys, 
I shall make the blood roune about his erys ; 
and we know, from a quotation already given, that they were 
carried in the miscellaneous stock of travelling pedlars. 



XXV. BELLS.— Plate XXVI. 

1. Introduction. — The existence of bells at an early period 



* Proceedings of the Society of An- 
tiquaries, II., 59. 
+ La Normandie Souteraine, 242. 
% Habit. Lacus., PI. xv., fig. 13. 
§ Journal of the Archaeological 



Association, vol. VII., PL xi., 5. 
|| Ibid., Vol. VIII., p. 189. 
f A. \V. F. 
" C. B. B. 



256 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

is clear from allusions in scripture, where they are mentioned 
by Moses,* and by Zechariah. These were small bells, such 
as are treated of here ; and had no connexion with either the 
sacred hand-bells of the mediaeval period, or the church-bells 
said to have existed since the time of St. Dunstan. In other 
words, our remarks refer to the tintinnabulum, not to the 
campana. The small bells which have been found in this 
country go back to Eoman times. Several globular bronze 
bells have been found with Eoman remains at Headington, in 
Oxfordshire ; and also by Mr. Neville at Heydon, Chesterford, 
and Shefford. The forms and uses of ancient bells are shown 
in Smith's Diet of Greek and Rom. Antiqs. [Tixtinnabulum.] 

2. Material and Shape. — Besides the gold bells of scripture 
there were silver bells, f frequently mentioned in our old 
English literature. Those of bell-metal were, no doubt, 
common also. Bells of copper J were long known in Am ■ fca, 
and of gold in Mexico and Peru.§ Those turned in brass are 
common at home in our own day. In antiquarian collections, 
those of pewter frequently occur. || In Mr. Smith's collection 
is one about an inch long, with the word SAN CTI TO MAES 
follow 'ng a cross.^f Other bells were of lead or sheet iron ; 
and no doubt any metal or its compound sufficed, that produced 
a sufficient or a satisfactory sound. 

The forms included the truncated pyramid, the ball, two hemi- 
spheres joined at a thick band, the imitation of a flower, &c. 
The figure of a bell, transcribed from the water-mark in paper, 
is given in the Archxologia.** It is from Bordeaux, about 
1350, and resembles the modern church bell in shape ; the 
ring and its appurtenances at the top resembling a fleur-de-lis. 

3. Uses of Bells. — A prominent use of 1 he bell was to deco- 
rate the dress of the clown or jester, who was commonly known 



* Exod. xxviii. 32 ; xxix. 25. 

t " j tyntinabill d'ar^'." Expm8€8 of 
the Great Wardrobe of Edward III., 

Ajchaol., XXXI., 72. 
t Schoolcraft IV., 450. 



§ Schoolcraft, IV., 440. 

|| Catalogue of London Ant. p. 135. 

f lb., p. 135. 

** ArchnoL XXXVII., 450. 



BELLS. 257 

as the fool. Three of these are represented in Strutt's View 
of the Dress and Habits* of the fourteenth century. Each of 
them has bells attached to his cap ; one appears to have so 
many as fourteen attached to a string round his waist ; 
another has one at the end of his bauble ; and two of them 
have bells attached to their elbows, cuffs, skirts, and gloves. 
On a statue in the cloisters of Magdalen College, Oxford, 
there are bells for tassels at a fool's robe.f In the old ballad 
entitled Willies Lady, bells at the girdle are noticed — 

And say your lady has a girdle, 
Its a' red gowd to the middle ; 
And aye at ilka siller hem, 
Hang fifty siller bells and ten. J 

The following is a description of a fool. Wamba, the son of 
Witless, " was provided with a cap having around it more than 
c\„ bell, about the size of those attached to hawks, which 
jingled as he turned his head to one side or other." § In Mini- 
ster's Cosmographia GcneraMs, 1550, there is a woodcut 
representing a fool with bells attached to the points of his 
crackowes, or long-toed shoes. A custom akin to this is 
mentioned in the travels of Sir John Chardin as prevailing 
in Persia and Arabia ; viz., that the women wear rings about 
their ankles, which are full of little bells. " Children and young 
women take a pleasure in giving them motion, and walk 
hastily for that very purpose." A further use of bells in the 
East is shown in a work printed in German, || towards the 
close of the sixteenth century, and copiously illustrated. The 
Geomalicr, one of the four Turkish orders of devotees, has 
three bells at each end of his long waist-scarf, and eight or 
nine round each leg, (Plate xxxiv.) A Greek peasant is 
playing a bagpipe, and from the top of the drone a con I hangs 



* Strutt, PI. lxxi. 
t Carter'sAnct. Sculp, and Painting. 
X Scott's Border Minstrelsy, II., 
398. 

§ Scott's Ivanhoe, vol. I. p. 10. 



|| Travels in Turkey, by Berr Ni- 
colai, < Ihamberlain and Geographer to 
Henry ill. of Prance, Bhowing the 
costumes of that and the neighbouring 

countries. Alitor!! - ., 1576. 



2 53 P.VKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 

like a festoon over his shoulder. From this several small 
hells are suspended at intervals, (Plate xxxii.) The Turkish 
punning postman has fourteen hells hung from his belt, and 
eight attached to each garter (Plate xxVi.) 

In the curious painted window at Betley, in Staffordshire, 
representing the morris-dancers, several are shown with bells 
on their shoes, and all round their legs. In Douce's dissertation 
on the ancient morris-dance, numerous references are made 
to the use of bells. In the Expenses of the Church- 
wardens of the parish of Kingston-on-Thames, among the 
payments made for the May-game and the play of Robin 
Hood, the following entry occurs, under date 23 Henry 

VII :— 

For bellys for the dawnsars, 12d. 

There is a second referring to the following reign ;* but as 
the bells were sold with other articles, we cannot ascertain 
the price, 

It.— The clianons sells and 1 bell ar sould for 20s. 

It.— 5 tables and 1 bell sould for 6s. 
At the festum fatitorum, or festival of fools, in wliich the 
superior clergy changed places for a day with the humblest 
people, the mock deans and canons had bells attached to their 
robes. But even on the most solemn occasions the bell was 
employed ; and it was at times regarded as a sacred symbol, f 
It is said that the ancient Druid priests used a peculiar 
kind when pronouncing their oracles. 

Pells were attached to a curious cap of punishment, 
which is depicted in Meyrick and Skelton's Ancient Armour, 
Plate xii. It was intended, no doubt, to add to the mortifica- 
tion of the sufferer, by representing him as a fool at the same 
time. Bells were also used on ordinary dress, as may be seen 
from an example given both in Strut t and in Fairholt's 
'Treatise on Costume. It is that of a gentleman of the fifteenth 
century, with a baldric or sash hung over his left shoulder ; J 

* Dissolution of Kcpton Priory, I t C. W. S. 
•-m»:1) Oct., BO Henry VIII. % Btrutt, II.. 292. 



BELLS. 



259 



it descends to his right knee, and is decorated with about 
eighteen small bells of gold. A popular ballad, too, represents 
Tani-a-Line, the elfin knight, as having nine bells of silver 
attached to his girdle.* 

Bells were also used very frequently as the decoration of 
dogs' collars ; and on well-known monumental brasses many 
are depicted. Twenty examples are given in a note ;f viz., 
six of the fourteenth century, eleven of the fifteenth, and three 
of the sixteenth. In the " King's Quair, maid be King James 
of Scotland the Firtt," cir. 1422, there is a description of the 
dog of Lady Jane Beaufort, his future queen, as seen in the 
gardens of Windsor Castle. 

And eft niyn eye ful pitously adoun, 

I kest, behalding unto kir ly till hound 
That with his bellis playit on the ground. 

The use of bells on the harness of horses has existed at 
least since the time of the prophet Zechariah, who says that 
the bells upon the horses shall be " holiness uuto the Lord ;"| 
and a similar use of them is made in connexion with the 
camels of the east. Byron imitates a beautiful passage at the 
close of the Song of Deborah, introducing this feature in the 
first line — 



* Dixon's Scottish Traditional 
Ballads, Per. Soc. 11. 

f Joan de Northwode, Sheppey, 
Kent, 1330; the Lady of Edward 
Flambard, Harrow, 1370; Lady Berke- 
ley, Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucester- 
shire, 1392 ; Margaret Braunche, 
Lynn-Regis, Norfolk, 1364; Lady 
Burton, Little Castleton, Rutland, 
1382 ; Lady de Cobham, Coblium, 
Kent, 1360; Lady Wylcotes, Great 
Tew, Oxon, 1410; Lady Felbrig, 
Felbrig, Norfolk, 1413; Lady Sbelton, 
Great Snoring, Norfolk, 1423; Lady 
Ela Stapleton, Ingham, Norfolk, 
1425; Lady Dyvc, Bromham, Beds, 



1430; Lady Leventhorpe, Sawbridge, 
Herts, 1433; Lady Stapleton, Ingham, 
j Norfolk, 1438 (one of the dogs at 
Sir Brian Stapleton's feet has the 
name ^JaUfte printed) ; a lady, Ling- 
field, Surrey, 1450 ; two Ladies Sta- 
pleton, Ingham, Norfolk, 1466 ; Mar- 
garet Castyll, Raveningham, Norfolk, 
1483; Sir Edmund Clerc, Stokesby, 
Norfolk, 1488; Mrs. Curson, Water- 
pen-, Oxon, 1527 ; Mrs. Oker, Disc- 
over, Staffordshire (two dogs), 1530 ; 
and a palimpsest fragment from St. 
Alban's Abbey. 
% Zech. xiv. 20. 



2(30 



TART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



The browsing camels' bells are tinkling, 
The mother of Sisera looked out at a window, The mother look'd from her lattice high, 

and cried through the lattice, " Why is his chariot so She saw the dews of eve besprinkling, 

long in coming? Why tarry the wheels of his The pastures green beneath her eye, 

chariots ?"— Judges v. 28. She saw the planets faintly twinkling, 

"Tis twilight — sure his train is nigh."-GiAorn. 

Iii the Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Zurich, 
1844, is the representation of a horse whose breast-band is 
covered with bells ; and the practice still exists of attaching 
them to the harness in various parts of England, and almost 
everywhere on the continent. I first noticed it in the neigh- 
bourhood of Bath. A fragment of ancient sculpture shows 
each of the horses in a chariot, with five or six bells attached 
to a thick strap passing round his neck. The practice is 
incidentally alluded to in the nursery tale of the Steed of 
Bells ; and it is recognized in popular poetry, and by modern 
writers who are familiar with the customs of the past. In the 
old ballad of Willies Lady, it is said that — 

At every tuft of that horse's mane 
There's a golden jess and a bell to ring. 

Sir Walter Scott says, " this worthy churchman rode upon a 
well-fed ambling mule, whose furniture was highly decorated ; 
and whose bridle, according to the fashion of the day, was 
ornamented with silver bells." * In the illustrations to Schil- 
ler s Lay of the Bell, by Maurice Eetzch, a horse which draws 
a sledge in a northern clime is represented with bells on the 
top of the yoke. The assumed date of the illustrations is 
from the middle of the 12th to the end of the loth century. 
There are bells at the saddle-cloth of a Spanish warrior of the 
11 th century; a bell on the croupe of a horse, loll ;f and a 
bell near the bridle bit of a British warrior.} -V balcony, which 
is supported by poles over the head of the. Pope, has bells of 
the modern shape at the four corners, and spherical bells along 
its four sides. § 

The ceremony of " belling the cat " is well known in fable ; 



* Ivanhoc, chap. ii. 

•\- Shaw, vol. i. 

X M rv rick and Smith's Brit, and 



Irish Costume. 
§ Foxe'e Book of Martyrs, p, 769: 



BELLS. 



261 



it was illustrated by a fact in the history of the Scottish house 
of Douglas and Angus, and it was a favourite subject among 
the burlesque monkish carvings on the scdilia of our ancient 
churches. 

It has long been usual for one of a flock of sheep to have a 

bell attached to its neck to keep the flock together ; * :f and those 

who have passed through pastoral districts must be familiar 

with the practice still. It is said that in some places they 

were attached to the sheeps' tails ; one in my own possession, 

turned up near Holyhead in Wales, was said to have been 

used in this way. It is about an inch and a 

half in diameter ; very similar in form to the 

example given here, and has the letters R W. 

rudely engraved on the bottom. Hence the 

term "bell-wether," occurring two or three 

times in Shakspeare, and the expression " to 

sheep Beii. Dear the "bell," meaning to take the lead — 

My prickearde ewe, since tliou dost bear the bell, 

And all thy mates do follow at thy call. 

In Todd's edition of Spenser, this passage is quoted from 
Riche's Adventures of Simonides, in illustration of the phrase ; 
and the following is Spenser's allusion to it — 

By that, the gloomy evening on them fell, 

That forced them from fightiDg to refraine, 
And trumpets sound to cease did them compell, 
So Satyrane that day was judg'd to bear the bell.f 

About this time, to bear away the bell had become a prover- 
bial expression for winning a prize;} and it was appropriate 
in- a literal sense also, as at Smithfield, the Rood-eye of Ches- 
ter, and other places, horses running without riders contended 




* The practice must also have 
existed when swine were fed in flocks 
in the extensive forests of England ; 
but I have met with no allusions to 
it in our older literature, nor with 
any pictorial representations of it. 



f Faery Queene IV., iv. 25. 

% In court that time was gude Sir J >.i\ i.l \,\ ndr- 
s;iy, 
In vulgar (ooDg, be bun tin- lull Qui day. 

Rolamti Court of f'enui, (157^) 



262 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



for a bell which was the prize * In the temporary museum 
at South Kensington, two bells were exhibited which had been 
given by the corporation of Carlisle on occasions of this kind. 

The hawks' bells were well known. They are noticed in 
the Shuttleworth Accounts at September, 1612, or 250 years 



" A paire of hauckes bells, vj d ." 
Gwillim depicts them, of the form which is very well known, 
in Iris Display of Heraldry, pp. 316, 317. Shakspeare alludes 
to the practice of hawking, when he represents the Earl of 
Warwick as saying f — 

Neither the king, nor he that loves him best, 
The proudest he that holds up Lancaster, 
Dares stir a wing, if Warwick shake his bells. 

There are also allusions in numerous other writers. J 

On an ivory casket, in the possession of S. W. Stevenson, 
Esq., bells are represented as suspended under a cart, on which 
Sir Lancelot du Lake is lying ; and, in Gawin Douglas's Palace 
of Honour, § bells are represented as suspended from a cart or 
chariot — 

Quhair fra dependant hang thair megir bellis — 
Sum round, sum thraw, in sound the quhilks excellis, 
All wer of gold of Araby maist fine, 
Quhilks with the wind concordandlie sae knellis 
That to be glaid thair sound all wicht compellis. 

The bell was also used by the lazar or beggar, as a substi- 
tute for his customary clap-dish — 

The wretched lazar with clinking of his bell, 
Hath life which doth the courier's life excell.ll 



* Paper by the Hon. Sir Edward 
Cast ; in the Transactions of the His. 
Soc. Lane, and Chcsh., I., 145. At 
Paisley, in Scotland, the silver bells, 
given by the town, arc still run for at 
intervals on the race-course. — (P. D.) 

t 2 Hen. VI., Act i., Sc. 1. 

$ One tyme the hawki b U angl thhye 
Another tome th ith their \\ Ing m 

Barclay, In 'tcent Conduct in Church. 



In the old ballad of The Droomjuld 
Ilill, the knight reproaches his gay 
goshawk for letting him sleep while 
a lady came and went. The reply is — 

I Clapped \vi' my winps, Mft>ti'r, 
Ami aye mj Delia l rang; 

Minstrelsy of the Border, II., ML 

§ I., 2G. 

I! Barclay's Cytyzcn and Uplondish 
Man. Per. Soe., xlix. 



BELLS. 



263 




At the end of the spear of a Caledonian 
warrior, a bell is represented ; * and it is 
somewhat curious that a tassel is found in 
precisely the same position in spears which 
are sculptured on the slabs of Nineveh. f 

The crotal, or pear-shaped bell, has been 
found in large numbers in Ireland; and one 
is here represented from the Dowris find, near 
Parsonstown. Like all of them, it is of a 
peculiar yellow brass, conventionally known 
as Dowris brass. It is six and a half inches 
long with the ring, and eight in circumference. 
The ceremony of excommunication in the Eoman Catholic 
Church, is " by bell, book, and candle-light ; " but natives of 
England have some difficulty in understanding allusions to it. 
Shakspeare's expression, put into the mouth of Faulconbridge,f 
refers to this subject. § 

Bell, book, and candle shall not drive me back, 
When gold and silver becks me to come on. 

In our old English monuments, the figure of the bell and 
crucible point out the resting-place of a bell-founder; one 
like him whose labours Schiller has commemorated in his 
immortal poem. || 

4. Bells in this Collection. — These are eight in number,^" in 
whole or in part, of which six are brass or bronze, and two 
pewter; all of them of the kind that would be attached to 
small animals like hawks or dogs. Even fig. 10, Plate XXVI., 



* Meyrick and Smith. 

t Layard's Illustrations, PI. xiv. 

t King John, iii., 3. 

§ Tn Sir David Lindsay's Satire of 
the Three Estates (Act ii. Sc. 2), the 
Pardoner refers to ordinary worship. 

Thocht ye haif na discrctioun, 

Ye - :ill half full nniis-i'. mi, 
With help ofbuikis ami bflUfc. 

|| The following account of bell- 
makers, is given by John de Garlaudc 



in the early part of the thirteenth 
century — 

"Artifices illi subtiles, qui fondant 
campanas de here sonoro per quae in 
ecclesiis hore dici dennnciantnr, motn 
hatillorum et cordarnm attractarnm." 

Md'/Ol's ]'nc,lh., 125. 

IT Mr. Akcrman thinks that the 
larger ones were used in connexion 

with uml 8. 



264 PAUT IT. — THE OBJECTS. 

seems too small for a sheep's bell ; and there are none that 
would be suitable for horses * Figs. 7 and 8 are the lower 
hemispheres of little bells like hawks' bells; the latter 
having an opening of the usual kind ; and the former has also 
a slit across it. Fig. 11 is of lead or pewter, with leaves like 
the petal of a flower ; and fig. 9 appears to be the tongue of a 
hand-bell. It is possible that the object figured, Plate XXIX., 
fig. 13, was also the tongue of a bell; but it may have 
belonged to a chatellaine. A smaller and more elegant bell 
than any of these, and which had evidently belonged to a 
hawk, was procured by Mr. Smith ; but it was so fragile that 
it crumbled to pieces, on slight contact, in the little box 
which contained it. Of the objects engraved, figs. 7 and 10 
are from Mr. Smith's collection ; 8 and 9 from Mr. Mayer's ; 
and fig. 11 from the one which I suppose Mrs. Longueville to 
possess. 



XXVI— CRUCIFIXES AND CROSSES.— Plate XXVI. 

1. General Remarks. — When the Chevalier Bayard fell in 
defence of the Milanese, in 1524, he fixed his eyes on the guard 
of his sword as a cross, and repeated his parting piayers/f 
The Irish peasant, too, extemporises the religious symbol, 
when he clasps his hands and swears "be thim five crasses." 

Crosses were formerly very numerous, as, for example, when 
we read that there were 300 in lona, most of which are 
supposed to have been of wicker-work, { and filled with sand 

or earth. 

When at each cross, on girth and wold, 
(Their number thrice an hundredfold,) 



* Three are in Mr. Smith's posses- 
sion, three in Mr. Mayer's, one in my 
own, and one I think in Mrs Longue- 
ville's. 

f Kohcrtson's Charles the Fifth, 
Book HI. 

X This is the theory of Mr. (i. J, 



strong probabilities in its favour. So 
many stone crosses could not have 
been manufactured in those primitive 
times; while at the same time, by 
assuming crosses of wicker-work, we 
accounl for their disappearance, and 
for' the interlaced patterns on stone, 



French of Bolton; and there are common in subsequent times* 



CRUCIFIXES AND CROSSES. 



265 



His prayer he made, Iris beads he told,* 
"With aves many a one.t 

They were, besides, nearly infinite in their varieties of shape, 
as may be inferred from the fact, that ecclesiastics appended 
to their signature each his own particular form of cross. 
Accordingly, those which are discovered from time to time 
are very varied. 

Mr. W. M. Wylie has described leaden f crosses bearing in- 
scriptions, from old cemeteries in France and England ; and the 
Abbe Cochet, in a series of articles, has described the sepulture 
of Anglo-Normans at Bouteilles, near Dieppe, § where similar 
crosses were found. In reference to the material of these, he 
says, — " Soumises a l'examen de la chimie, mes croix n'ont 
offert a la perspicacity de M. Girardin de Eouen, que du plomb 
pur et sans aucun alliage." || In one instance, the lead of the 
cross had entirely perished. " II avait possede autrefois une 
croix de plomb ; mais comme le metal etait de mauvaise qua- 
lite, elle est tombee en morceaux par suite d'oxidation."^[ M. 
Fred. Troy on, in describing some antiquities from Chavannes, 
in the Pays de Yaud, Switzerland, notices two Greek crosses 
of iron ; but, as they exhibit no signs of the Christian faith, 
he supposes they are parts of horse-harness.** 

The fylfot cross appears on the well-known D Aubernon 
brass, in Stoke-Daubernon Church, Surrey. It is described in 
BoutelVs Treatise on Brasses, p. 28 n. Respecting tin's cross, it 
is stated that it was of Oriental origin. "The Fylfot, a kind 
of cross potent rebated, was of oriental origin, and used as the 
symbol of a religious sect in India and China, as early as tin; 
tenth century before the ChristiaD era. It is found on Runic 
obelisks at Carew and Nevern, and was a frequent ornament 



* That is, reckoned. I may tell 
(count) all my bones, PsaL xxii. 17. 
" Every shepherd tells his tale, (t*. c, 
reckons his number, viz., of sheep,) 
Under the hawthorn in tbe dale." — 
Milton, V Allegro. Dr. Kennedy in 
Notes and Queries. 



t Scott, Lord "i' the [ales, ii.. -2\ . 
X Archoologia, x \x v., 3uo. 
§ II.., XXXVII., 36. 
|| lb., XXXVI., 264. 
H lb., XX XV II.. 40$. 

•* Ai.1k.o1., XXXV., a;»r, mh 
Platea .wii., xviii. 



266 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



of the apparels of ecclesiastical vestments, belts, &o, in the 
thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, after which it is very 
rarely to be met with."* Crosses of various forms occur upon 
sepulchral slabs; for which it maybe sufficient to refer to Mr. 
Cutts's book.f M. Cochet found on a skeleton a " cross of 
absolution," from which the man's name J was ascertained. 

A very rude stone cross was obtained in taking down the 
ancient church of Bakewell, in Derbyshire. § It resembles one 
of ours which is not engraved here. A very ancient cross of 
silver, which had formerly been gilt, and containing a relic, is 
described in the Journal of the Archaeological Association. || 
It was shown by Mr. Lindsay of Cork, and is thought to be 
of the thirteenth century. 

Among the Eev. Mr. Hugo's pilgrim signs of pewter, found in 

the Thames, is a crucifix in the form of a Tau, or St. Anthony's 

cross, with the word "signum" engraved on the horizontal 

bar.^f Chaucer represents his Pardoner as having a cross of 

latten ** — 

He had a crois of laton, full of stones ;tt 

and one of that material, and of the fourteenth century, was 
discovered in the churchyard of Walton-le-Dale, near Preston, 
in 1853. ft 

3. Examples in this Collection. — The number of crosses in 
this collection is fourteen, all of which, with one exception, 
are of lead. The remaining one is of brass or bronze. Eight 
of these are in Mr. Mayer's collection, five in Mr. Smith's, and 
one in my own. From the long projecting bar of several of 



* Cutts's Introd., 1. 

| Plates xxxv. to lxxxiii. 

| Archceol., XXXVII., 401. 

§ Cutts's Manual, Plate iv. ; see 
also p. 61. 

|| Vol. VI.. p. 441. 

% Arch£Bol., XXXVIII., 128. 

** The term " latten," which has 
occurred more than once, is thus ex- 
plained by Johnson — " Brass ; a mix- 
ture of copper and caliininaris stone." I 



Thcohald, (in his note on the Merry 
Wives of Windsor, i., 1,) quoting from 
Dacier, says—" C'cst une espece do 
cuivre de montagnc, comme son nom 
mesme lc temoigne; c'est que nous 
appellons aujourd'huy du kton." " 1 1 
is a sort of mountain copper, as its 
very name imports, and which we at 
this time of day call latten." 

+f Prologue to the C. T. 

XX Proceedings S. A., III., 126. 



CRUCIFIXES AXD CROSSES. 



267 



them, and the absence of all care in their finish, it is clear 
that they were not used for religious purposes, but were 
probably used as winders for thread. 

Fig. 14 appears to be a bona fide cross ; and one of the same 
size and form has a hole at the top, showing that it was meant 
to be suspended. Fig. 12 is a small crucifix, which appears to 
have been broken off a wire. The Saviour is represented as 
leaning to the right side. Fig. 13 is the one which is not of 
lead. It is more than two inches across the bars, and belongs 
to the class called potent, or hammer-headed. It is also 
slightly floreated, and has a hollow circle in the centre, at the 
bottom of which is a minor incised cross. This space appears 
to have been occupied by a setting. Mr. Franks pronounces 
both 12 and 13 to be Saxon. All the three engraved here 
are from Mr. Mayer's collection. 

A large Saxon cross of the red sandstone of the neighbour- 
hood, is in my possession, procured a few years ago from 
Hilbre island. It was probably the identical cross represented 
in Camden's map, and marking the site of the holy place. It 
is shown here. Its diameter is twenty-three inches. 







'268 



PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 



XXVIL— SPOONS.— Plate XXVI. 

1. General Remarks. — The Israelites in the wilderness had 
spoons of the precious metals ; those of gold for the service of 
God, and of silver among the princes of the tribes.* The 
ordinary ones, however, must have been of commoner mate- 
rials. The forms were sometimes very beautiful, and we are 
surprised by the variety of designs. An American author, in 
a work published at New York in 1845, says : — " In these 
forms we have the turns of thought of old artists ; nay, casts 
of the very thoughts themselves. We fancy we can almost 
see a Theban spoonmaker's face brighten up as the image of 
a new pattern crossed his mind; behold him sketch it on 
papyrus, and watch every movement of his chisel or graver, 
as he gradually embodied the thought, and published it in 
some of its forms, securing an accession of customers, and a 
corresponding reward in an increase of profit.""!" 

Eoman spoons have been found in this country; one at 
Bucklersbury, London.^ Others, of white metal, have been 
turned up from the bed of the Thames, near Kingston.§ In 
the Expenses of the Wardrobe of Edward III., mention is made 
of a large spoon of silver, apparently for oil. || In an inventory 
of the plate belonging to the nursery of Queen Catherine Parr's 
child (1548), occurs the following entry — "Item,^[ eleven 
spones, silver, all white." A spoon of mixed metal, with 
perforated gilt bowl, was found at Stodmarsh, in the valley of 
the Stour, and is engraved in the ArcJuuologia, Vol. XXXVI., 
Plate xvi. Spoons are less commonly found than personal 
ornaments, the latter having been frequently interred with 
the owners. Wooden spoons of great variety exist among the 
primitive people of various nations; one from Abyssinia, in 
the possession of the writer, is an elegant specimen of carving. 



* Exodus xxv. 

f "The spoon, Primitive, Egyp- 
tian. Roman, Mediaeval, and Modern ;" 
quoted in the Art Journal for March, 

1862. 



% Proceedings of the Society of 
Antiquaries, III., 90. 
§ II). I., 93. 

|| ArchsBologia, XXXI., 58 
^f lvdiqum Antiqus, II., 17. 



SPOONS. 



269. 



Among our ancestors spoons of horn were common; and in 
rural districts they are still so. They were made by " homers," * 
and afterwards by travelling craftsmen like tinkers. In the 
old Scottish ballad entitled " Th& Wowing of Jok and Jynny" 
the bridegroom enumerates as among his possessions, " Ana 
trene trenchour, ane ramehorne spone;"| and Sir Eichard 
Maitland, in 1561, records of the Thievis of Liddisdail, " They 
leif not spendil, spone, nor speit."J But a spoon, which 
shows more originality than even the sea-shell of the Austra- 
lian native, is one preserved in the collection of the Eoyal 
Irish Academy. It is formed by cutting off the hollow of one 
of the vertebras of a large mammal. § Of the more important 
kind of spoons and ladles, there are thirty-three varieties in 
that interesting collection. 

In our old English mansions, there are numerous rare and 
beautiful spoons preserved, the workmanship of four centuries. 
One, in the possession of the Duke of Eichmond, of gold, or 
silver gilt, is in the form of a swan; and the Apostle spoon, || and 
other spoons which were in the temporary museum at South 
Kensington, deserve particular notice. These were contributed 
by E. T. Frere, Esq., Sir William Holburne, Bart., W. Sterling, 
Esq., the Innholders' Company, G. H. H^ad, Esq., &c. One 
large silver spoon, with long handle rudely cut off, reminded 
one of the Scotch proverb — " They need a lang-shanket spune 
that sup kail wi' the deil."^J The cost of spoons is seen in 



* Hence the Scottish proverb, to 
" mak a spune or spoil a hornic." 
" A dozen of horn spoons in a bunch, 
as the instruments mectest to eat 
furmenty porrage withal." — Nichols's 
Progresses. 

t Bannatyne MSB., 1568. 

X Sibbald's Chronicle of Scottish 
Poetry, III., 105. 

§ Wilde's Catalogue, p. 2G7. 

|| See Ilarland's note on Apostle 
spoons, &c. Shuttleworth's Accounts, 



p. 1004. Imitations of them are be- 
ginning to be common at present. 

^ Henderson, p. 12. This most 
have been a very common proverb, as 
it occurs frequently— 

Tii. retort Mhovetb bin a ful long Rpono 

That BhallcU; with a f.n.l; thus li. i i 

Chnucrr, Ihr S'/uirm Talr. 

Marry, lie must have a long spoon 
that must cat with the devil. 

Shal.ifriirr, C'.meily n/ /-.Vrori, tv., S. 

Hi; that rats u iih the devil without a 
long ipoone, his tare will he ill. 

/'.. It iny H httr /in EfMOMMT 



270 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



July, 1G02, as we read in the Shuttle worth. Accounts — "ij 
dozen pewter sponnes, xx d ." p. 146 ; and in July, 1613, — " one 
dozen of pewter spownes xij d ." p. 210. Four pewter spoons, 
temp. Elizabeth, were found, 11th Feb., 1853, at Walton-le- 
Dale, Preston.* 

2. Special Remarks. — In this collection there are only two, 
figs. 15 and 18, both of pewter, and both old ;f but there are two 
small ones of iron, figs. 16 and 17, which appear to have been 
used for cosmetics. J The bowl of fig. 15, which remains, 
bearing some resemblance to an inverted pear, is not an 
uncommon form ; and the top of the handle is decorated by 
a rude acorn-cup and acorn. In the Inventory of the Goods 
of Dame Agnes Hungerford, 1523, we have enumerated — 
" Item, a dossen of sponys with akornes on the end. "§ Of 
fig. 18 little remains but the handle, at the top of which a figure 
is squatted, apparently that of a monkey. Jointly, therefore, 
they afford illustrations of wit and rustic life. All these 
engraved here belong to Mr. Mayer. It was suggested by one 
archaeologist, that the objects represented in figs. 16 and 17 
might have been pocket weights, like those referred to in 
ColU anea Aniiqua, II., 10. 

Some time previous to 1819, in raising St. Martin's cross in 
the island of lona from its fallen position, a curious little 
spoon, apparently of bronze, was found underneath it. The 
object, which is now in the possession of the Duke of Argyle, 
was about four inches long ; the bowl was oval and shallow. 
During the engineering operations in the Lower Bann, pre- 
vious to 1852, a small gold spoon was discovered, which is 
represented in the annexed wood-cut. A dignitary of the 
Roman Catholic church explains that such spoons Mere used 



* Journal Arch. Assoc, VIII. 325. 

t A. W. F. 

X Sir Gardiner Wilkinson has figur- 
ed several elegant spoons used by the 
Egyptians for similar purposes. In 
one, a hand holds forth a shell, and 
the arm becoming attenuated OS the 



handle, terminates in a goose's head. 
In another, the spoon is in the. form 
of a cartonch, a graceful female figure 
holding it in her arms. The body at 
full length is the handle. 

§ Archwologia, XXXVIIL, 301. 



EAK-PICKS. 271 




Gold Spoou from the Lower Bann. 

formerly in religious rites, to mix a single drop of water with 
the sacramental wine. Some years ago, in walking through 
the grounds of the County Lunatic Asylum at Lancaster, I 
picked up a little spoon very like this from the Lower Bann. 
It had been carved out of a small piece of mahogany, appa- 
rently by one of the patients. 



XXVIIL— EAR-PICKS.— Plate XXVI. 

Shakspeare makes Thersites say,* in abusing Agamemnon, 
that he hasn't so much brain as ear-wax, and it is obvious that 
our ancestors paid particular attention to this secretion and to 
its removal. In graves of almost every class in this country, 
ear-picks are found. One of bronze attached to a pair of 
tweezers, is described in the Honourable Mr. Neville's account 
of his explorations near Chesterford. At the Anglo-Saxon 
Cemetery of Long "Wittenham, in Berks, one was discovered f 
by the side of a young woman — and in general with the re- 
mains of women, were found " fibulae, glass, amber beads, tooth- 
picks, ear-picks, tweezers, and occasionally bunches of keys.f 
At Kingston Down, in Kent, in 1767, ear-picks and tooth-picks 
of silver, each 2£ inches long, were found at a Chatellaine on 
a slender silver wire.g 

In 1771, another of silver was found at the same place, on 
a silver gilt ring, with a similar object attached, 1 . J indies 
long. A gilt silver pin which was found near it, with flatti d 
and pierced head [| for a hole, had probably been broken oil' the 
same ring. At a Roman villa at Hartlip in Kent, tweezers 
and an ear-pick were found on a ring, almost of the same kind 

* Troilus and Cressida, v., 1. I § Iiivcntoriiun Sqmlehialc, f, 42, 

t Archseolo^., XXXVIII., 837. | PL .xii., fig. I. 

J Ibid., XXXVIII., 331. II ft., i». 67, PI. xii 






272 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

that we find in Saxon graves* In this collection there are 
only two, both of bronze; Plate XXVI., figs. 20 and 21, and 
as usual they are constructed for suspension. In one winch is 
plain and long, the eye is broken away ; in the other, one end 
seems to form the eye, and then to be twisted round the stem 
with nine circumvolutions. 

The object engraved along with needles, Plate XXII., fig. 4, 
has probably been an ear-pick, as its twisted shank militates 
against the idea of its having been a needle. 



XXIX.— THE GYPCIERE.— Plate XXVI. 

1. Its use generally. — The remains 
of the marsivpium, or purse, called in 
a vocabulary of the tenth century 
by the Anglo-Saxon name Seod, are 
found not uncommonly in the Anglo- 
Saxon graves of the pagan period ;f 
thus proving the antiquity of its use 
in this country. One of the most 
ancient examples of the gypciere or 
satchel purse, is found on the effigy of 
a knight at Ionaj About the four- 
teenth century we sometimes find it 
ornamented round the edge with a 
series of balls or buttons, as in the 
saxon Mountings of purse. case of an ecclesiastic engraved by 
Strutt.§ In Chaucer's description of the carpenter's wife, 

he says — 

By hire girdel heng a purse of lether 

Tasseled with silk and perled with latoun.|| 

During the same century it was sometimes ornamented with 




* Collectanea Antiqua, II. 

t Wright's Note in Mayer's Vocal).. 
83. 

X Captain Hamilton Smith, PI, 21. 



quoted by Planche. 

§ From Cott. MSS., Tib. A, 
II The Milleres Talc. 



GYPCIERES. 273 

a central stud * like that on the belt, and accompanied with a 
dagger. In the fifteenth and sixteen centuries there were 
similar bails or buttons, and occasionally decorations like 
beads in front.-|* It was sometimes worn, not at the side, J but 
suspended from the girdle behind. § In the Shuttleworth 
Accounts (1621) is the following entry — " Scripe, a leather 
satchell for the servantes use, viij' 1 ;" so that the satchell, the 
antiquated separable pockets of women, and the modern railway 
reticule or bag, were all designed to serve a similar purpose. 
In his description of ancient Germany, Munster in his wood- 
cuts represents the workers || in metal as having hung up 
their bags or gypcieros in the booth. In a carving in Ludlow 
church, two men support a barrel. Each has a leathern pouch 
or gypciere at his belt, but they are of different kinds, one 
having metallic ornaments at the corners.^! The family of 
Palmer bears in its arms three palmers' scrips sable, with tassels 
and buckles or. 

Numerous examples may be seen on the ancient brasses, 
where the gypciere was frequently worn along with a rosary, 
and sometimes a penner and ink-horn were inserted in the 
belt.** They may also be seen in Strutt, and in Miss Cust's 
edition of the precursor to Bunyaris Pilgrim's Progress, entitled 
" Pelerinage eh FA me" We sometimes get a hint of their 
contents, as in HeywooeVs Piety of Love. f f The loveless man 
refers to a book in the purse at his girdle for arguments. Also 
in the play of the " Shepherds," in the Chester Mystei ies, when 
they proceed to supper, Primus Pastor says, 

My saechell to shake oute, 

To sheapardes I am not ashamed ; 

And this touge pared rounde about, 

With my touge it shall be atameri.it 



*Fairholt, p. 118. 


T Journal of the Arch. Association, 


tIIarl.MS.4374, and Roy. 14 E.,iv. 

% With scrip on hip, ami pyke-Btaff in his hand, 
As he had been purpo3it to pass fra hame. 

Sir David Lindsay. 

§ Strutt, vol. II, PL 131. 


IV., 210. 

** A row of paper In his hand ho belr; 
A IWBHl P' n ttlol unci uml> i 
An ytik -hon., with pa tt\ ffiU p. unalr; 

A Imgnixilk all at his I" it I,. 

llrnryion, I'mlonu.- to Fabltt. 


|| Cosmographia Universalis, pp. 


ft Fair-holt's [ntrocL, x.w. 


286, 345. 


ii Shaksp. Soc. Ed., p. 123. 



274 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

The Scottish poet Dunbar alludes to coins as part of the 
contents, under the name " crosses/' as it was usual for each 
coin to have a cross on one side. The custom has been re- 
introduced in the case of the florin, by arranging the royal 
quartering in the form of a cross. In provincial English, also, 
there is the proverbial expression, " I have not a cross in my 
pocket," evidently derived from the times of our ancestors. 

My purs is maid of sic aue skin, 
Thair will ua corses byd it within.* 

2. The Metal Parts. — In general, only the metal mountings 
of gypcieres or purses are found, which have lain in the earth. 
An object from Little Wilbraham, and now in Lord Bray- 
brooke's museum, was supposed to be a latch-key ; but a dis- 
covery made near Caistor in Lincolnshire, showed that, in 
conjunction with the bow of metal, it formed the top of a 
purse.f 

The Abbe Cochet discovered the clasps and frame of another 
at Envermeu,f and was thus enabled to explain an engraving 
in Montfaugon. Sometimes the back only is given, the front 
part being fastened by a buckle and strap ; and sometimes the 
entire framework, one portion lying within the other. There 
are several such examples in the British Museum ; and, before 
the introduction of the modern French purse with divisions, 
a small money-bag, almost precisely similar, was not un- 
common. 

At Long Wittenham, in Berks, the fittings for a purse were 
found in conjunction with the remains of a young woman ;§ 
and at the Anglo-Saxon cemetery of Brighthampton, Oxon, 
the metal framework appears to have been suspended by a 
funicular ring,|| which exhibits obvious signs of wear and tear. 
One, which was found in a pond near Barham, was exhibited 
at the Society of Antiquaries, March 3, 1859. It is of 
brass, S\ inches wide, apparently of the fifteenth century, with 



* Epistle to the King. cir. 1500. 
t Arch. XXXVII., 156. 
X Wright's Essays, I., 153. 



§ Arch., XX XV III., 337. 
|| Ibid., 97, PL iii. 



GY.PCIEKES. 



275 



ornaments and letters inlaid in niello. The crossbar at top 
had a central shield on each side, with the arms of France 
opposite the monogram ras. ; and the words o domine 
ckisste opposite s. maeia s. bakbak[a]. On the semi- 
circular rim was engraved aye MARIA g[e]acia plena 

DOMINVS TECYM. BENEDICT A TV IN MVLIEEIBVS ET. Oil the 

inner rim, qvi non habit peccvnivm non dabit * 




Mounting of Gypciere from Barham, Norfolk. 

The gypciere was easily abstracted from the girdle by cut- 
ting its fastenings ; and hence the " cut purse" of former times 
corresponded to the pickpocket or garotter of our own.f In 
the effigy of Queen Berengaria, id the Abbey of LTSspan, Dear 
Mane, the gypciere or mhnowfcre hangs w an exposed position, 



Proceedings S. A., IV.. 293. | f Boutclls Hon. BniMS, iil. 



276 



PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 



with a tempting facility for having the ribbons cut. * One of 
the Eobin Hood ballads calls the outlaw by this name, using 
it as a general term for robber. 

So being oullaw'd (as 'tis told,) 
He with a crew went forth, 
Of lusty cutters stout and bold, 
And robbed in the North, f 

In Machyn's Diary, under the year 1552, the following 
entry occurs : — " The xi day of July hangyd one James Ellys, 
the grett pykkepurs that ever was, and cutt-purs, and vij more 
for theyfft, at Tybume/' 

The object shown in our engraving (19a), exhibits but a 
small portion of metal ; but there are evidences that a thin 
slip was fastened within the knobs of the revolving crossbar 
at top. The object 195, which was found with it, appears to be 
the tassel or pendant. 



XXX.— SEALS AND PILGBIMS' SIGNS.}— Plate XXYII. 

1. — Seals. 
Seals Generally. — The objects ranging under this denomination 
are by no means of frequent occurrence in this country, despite 
their common use by individuals of the higher classes of 
society, both clerical and lay, from the Conquest downward. 
The high prices they attain whenever offered for sale, attest a 
still increasing appreciation on the part of the antiquarian 
public. But, interesting as seals are to the inediaBval antiquary, 
from their use, design, inscriptions, forms, and even composition, 



* Stothart's Mon. Effigies ; Fair- 
holt's Costume,. 99. 

t A True Talc of 11. R.—Ritson. 

X The articles referring to two of 
the Plates have been written by Mr. 
II. Ecroyd Smith. These are, Plate 
XX VII., embracing Seals, Pilgrims' 
Signs, and Coins; ami Plate XXXI., 



embracingPottery and Tobacco Pipes, 
On this last subject, (</. v.), the general 
remarks are mine, the description of 
the Plate his. In connection with 
Pottery, he treats of Glass and Ena- 
mel. Any illustrative remarks of my 
own are indicated by my own initials. 




J I WORRALL. 






COINS 



SEALS AND PILGRIMS' SIGNS. 277 

they prove of yet greater value to the topographer and student 
of heraldry, through their curious illustration of bygone 
appellations and devices. 

These articles may be divided into four primary classes, 
viz., the royal (including all those of the State), the personal, 
the religious, and the municipal ; the first of these being the 
earliest nationally used in this country, and probably not 
much anterior to the reigns of Coenwulf, kirn? of Mercia, and 
Edward the Confessor, whose great seals of state remain 
our earliest examples. Seals in lead were, however, common 
in Eoman times, as is proved by the numerous examples 
discovered in England, and engraved in the third volume of 
Mr. Eoach Smith's Collectanea Antiqua ; and others, also in 
lead, of the time of Constantine, recently discovered at Eich- 
borough, in Kent, and noticed in the Gentleman's Magazine. 

The specimens from the seashore of Cheshire are all of 
the personal designation. Those of earliest date are composed 
of lead or pewter, and of this material genuine seals are so 
scarce, that at a recent archaeological meeting in the metro- 
polis, a member attempted to prove that none such originally 
existed, affirming the few extant to be late? forgeries, for attach- 
ment to wills or other documents of value ! Our examples 
are, however, undeniably authentic, and would even appear to 
be but types of a numerous contemporary class. It is certain 
they belonged to persons of distinction, inasmuch as few below 
the rank of knight were allowed to wear a pendent seal, or 
authentic as it was termed. Private coats-of-arms were inter- 
dicted upon such, previously to the commencement of the 
thirteenth century ; throughout it the assumption became more 
general, but probably it had reached its close ere distant 
country places like this received the custom. Hence the non- 
appearance of the arms or crests of the individual owners of the 
following, which it will be observed are mostly of early date. 

Personal Seals. — (1.) Pig. 2. Matrix, lead ; shape, oval. 
Around a proportionally oblong ornament runs the inscrip- 



278 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



tion, S'AMABELIE D'LATHVN i.e., the seal of Amabel 
de Lathun (now Lathom). Nothing whatever seems to be 
known concerning this lady, whose name does not appear in its 
genealogy,* although she must have been a scion of the great 
Lathom family, of Lathom in Lancashire, and Lathom Astbury, 
near Congleton, Cheshire, from which have sprung three noble 
families ; viz., Derby of Knowsley and Stanley of Alderley, 
of the present day, and Monteagle in abeyance. The family 
pedigree represents Sir Robert Fitzhenry, the founder of 
Burscough Priory, as first Lord of Lathom, through marriage 
with a daughter of Orme Fitz-Ailward, possessor of Ormeskirk 
previously to 1199. It is therefore probable that, although 
absent from this register, the Lady Amabel was daughter or 
grand-daughter to Sir Robert, the seal being of thirteenth 
century workmanship, and from the fact of one of the family 
estates abutting upon the locality where it was found. This 
is in the collection of Mr. Jos. Mayer. 

(2.) Fig. 1. Matrix, pewter ; shape, circular. Around a 
central flower-shaped ornament is inscribed, S'WILLI. 
DE MELES. This personage was in all probability lord 
of the manor of Great Meols ; but, as the fabrication 
of the seal evidently appertains to the thirteenth century, 
a period anterior to the commencement of the authentic 
pedigree of the family, documentary evidence fails to enlighten 
us as to his true history and position. We possess, how- 
ever, in Domesday,*)* a yet earlier notice of the manor of Meles, 
by which it appears to have been held by a follower of the 
Conqueror — Robert de Roclelent, or Rothelant (Roelent of 
Domesday), Baron of Rhuddlan. This nobleman, who had 
been brought up at the court of Edward the Confessor, and 



* Vide Ormerod's " Miscellanea 
Palatina." 

t "Isdem Robertus (de Rodelent), 
tenet Melas. Levenot- tenuit ; ibi 
una-hida geldabilis : terra est vma- 
caruca et dimidia; ibi est unus Rad- 



man et n villain : et n bordarii 
habent imam carucam. Tempore 
regis Edwardi valebat xv. solidos, 
modo x solidos. Wasta invcnitur."— 
Ormerod's Hist. Cheshire, II., 272. 



SEALS AND PILGRIMS' SIGNS. 279 

knighted by that monarch, was slain by some of his disaffected 
villeins in Wales, and died without legitimate issne. We are 
told that shortly subsequent to this, a family settled, here as 
capital lords, under the Earls (of Chester), and certainly pre- 
viously to the commencement of the following pedigree.* In 
proof of this, the Calendar of the Cheshire Enrolments (or 
remaining fragments of the records of proceedings in the 
Court Palatine) supplies our first documentary evidence, viz., 
"Temp. William cle Vernon, A.D. 1229—1232. Memorial of 
Recognition in Court that Walter cle Meles, Walter his son, 
1 et eorarn sequela/ are free men."t 

Probably the " William de Meles " of our seal was a son of 
the younger Walter here mentioned, supplying one of the 
numerous missing links between the latter and the John de 
Meles who commences the pedigree of the family, which we 
subjoin in its entirety, premising that an existing deed, just 
alluded to (14 Hy. III., a.d. 1230), refers, but unfoitunately not 
by name, to the father and grandfather of the then existing 
representative of the family. 

" The male line of this ancient family became extinct in the 
[great] grandson of this man,j Thomas Meoles, who resided at 
Chester. He sold the manor of Pulton-cum-Seacombe in 1695, 
and was succeeded in his other estates by his sister, Ann Meoles, 
who also died issueless, and bequeathed her estates to her cousin, 
Charles Hough, son and heir of William Hough of Thornton, 
by Elizabeth, the only sister of Thomas Meoles who had 
issue. 

" The manor is now vested in William Eamsbottom, surgeon 
of Liverpool, in right of his wife, Jane Hough, granddaughter 
of Charles Hough before mentioned. 

"The family of Meoles embarked zealously in the cause of 
Charles I. ; and, if we may judge from the disparity of their 
marriages after that time, to the alliances which they pre- 



* See Appendix, p. 282. | J William of Meoles, living in 

t Ormerod's Chesh., II., 272. | 1G13. 



280 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



viously formed, they were sufferers, in no small degree, from 
the effects of that disastrous period." * 

The name Meles is said to be synonymous with Sandhills,^ 
and certainly a more appropriate designation could not have 
been found for a place in constant annoyance, if not absolute 
danger, from the ever-shifting sandhills of the seaboard. Its 
orthography in Domesday, as we have seen, was Mclas. I In 
the Cheshire Eolls, although written Meles. it was probably 
pronounced bi-syllabically Me-les, and it was not till the time 
of Henry V. that the letter o appears to have been introduced. 
Later maps, down to the present time, render the name Great 
Meoles ; but it is worth notice that, although following this 
orthography upon their waggons and carts, yet the villagers 
never thus pronounce it. In their enunciation it becomes 
Melse, Melts, the Melts, or the Big Melts — the last to distin- 
guish it from a smaller hamlet on the farther side of Hoose 
and Hoylake, known as the Little Melis. § Great Meoles is 
the oldest existing village in the vicinity of the seashore ; 
the seal was found almost immediately opposite to it, and 
about high- water mark of spring tides, in the autumn of 1857. 
It is in the collection of the writer of this chapter. 

(3.) Fig. 3. Matrix, pewter; shape, circular. Around the 
central ornament, or " Stafford knot," is inscribed " S' John 
De Osecott." This seal is similar in size and composition 
to the preceding, but is in a much less perfect state of 
preservation ; it also belongs to the thirteenth or fourteenth 
century. The badge would appear to indicate the owner as a 
retainer of the noble house of Stafford. — In the collection of 
Mr. Joseph Mayer. 

(4.) Fig. 4. Matrix, brass ; shape, circular ; small but with 
long perforated handle, not unlike what have, until a recent 



* Ormerod's Cheshire, II., 272-3. 
t See Note, p. 4. — A. H. 
t Can the original term have any 
.connexion with the Gr. melas (black)? 



Its connexion would, in that case, he 
apparent with Dove, and the Black 
Earth.— A. H. 

§ Frequently "the Melsh."— A. H. 



SEALS AND PILGRIMS' SICKS. 231 

period, been attached to watches, and may still occasionally 
be noticed on the persons of old country gentlemen. 

This seal, of which two examples have been found, (differing 
but slightly in minute detail,) represents the meeting of Mary 
and Elizabeth, so graphically described by St. Luke, chap. i. 
The inscription suiTounding the figures is simply the opening 
words of the salutation, "Ave Maria." Date fourteenth or 
fifteenth century. One of these seals is missing ; the other is 
in the collection of Mr. Joseph Mayer. 

(5.) Fig. 7. Matrix, brass ; a seal-ring, the collet or face 
bearing the engraved head of a stag. A similar crest pertains 
to tin ancient neighbouring family : the Stanleys of Hooton 
and Storeton, foresters of Wirral, viz., " on a wreath a stag's 
head and neck couped, argent; attired (horned) or, langued 
(tongued) gules" — In the collection of Mr. Mayer. 

The use of the seal finger-ring is very ancient. That it was 
not unfLequently worn by the monarchs of ancient Egypt, 
Assyria, and Babylon, is evident from the numerous existing 
examples, often most artistically executed and in excellent 
preservation. In the book of Esther we read that Mordecai, 
having written the letters for the governors of the provinces, 
"sealed them vjiih the Icing's ring." The early examples were 
usually of gold or silver, and either engraved or set with 
graven gems, for use as seals as well as ornament. The 
inestimable execution of those of Greece and Borne (the 
workmanship of Greek and Etruscan artists), will ever remain 
the wonder and delight of all lovers of true art* 

(6.) Fig. 10. Matrix, lead; a small die or stamp bearing 
a fleur-de-lis and a baron's coronet. Date seventeenth 
century. 

Tor details, see Kings, chap. XXI. 



seals and pilgrims' signs. 283 

2. — Pilgrims' Signs* 

(1.) Plate XXVIL, fig. 6. Fragment (the upper portion) of a 
Sign of " Our Ladye of Koc St. Amaclour," in lead, date 13th 
to 14th century. Several perfect examples of differing types 
of this interesting sign have occurred in France ; and, con- 
nected as they are with a once highly celebrated continental 
shrine, now utterly neglected, and all but unknown, we can- 
not do better than transfer to our pages, from the Collectanea 
Antiquaf all the information which appears to have hitherto 
been gleaned respecting it. Although the first recorded 
instance of the occurrence of the sign in this country, it yet 
proves the widely extended fame of the old Hermitage chapel. 
It is in the collection of the writer of this chapter. 

" An oval plate with a representation of the virgin, crowned, 

nimbed, and holding a sceptre, seated with the infant Jesus 

in her lap, and inscribed, ►£< ' Sigillum Beate Marie, de Eoc 

Amador.'" M. Hucher correctly assigns the date to the 13th 

century, or possibly to the early part of the 14th. An 

example in larger module is etched by Mr. H. W. King (from 

my own collection), in the " Publications of the Antiquarian 

etching Club," part III., 1853, and is now in the British 

Museum. It appears to be of the 12th century, and differs 

somewhat in detail from M. Hucher's ; the nimbus of the 

virgin is surrounded by a shaded pattern, that of the infant 

shows three points of a cross, and the embossed legs of the 

chair terminate upwards, in jleurs-de-lys. They both have been 

cast from the matrices of seals, and adapted for sewing upon 

the dress. 

"Koc-Amadour," M. Hucher tells us, "is a celebrated place of 
pilgrimage, situate in the middle of the ancienl province of 
Quercy (a division of Gruienne in Aquitaine), at eighteen 



* For much carefully collated in- 
formation on this singular class of 
reliques, together with illustrations, 
we may refer to Mr. C. Roach Smith's 



Collectanea Antiqua, Vols. I. II. IV.; 
also a paper by Rev. Thomas Hugo, 
in Arcliaol., Vol. XXX Y III., p. 129. 
f Col. Ant., vol. IV. 



284 



PAKT IL— THE OBJECTS. 



kilometers north-east of Gourdon. Placed in the bosom of a 
site exceedingly picturesque, it seems suspended "between 
heaven and earth. Eoc-Amadour owes its renown partly to 
the worship paid, from the most remote times, to the sacred 
virgin, in a particular chapel of the church of that locality, and 
partly to the relics of St. Amadour, which have been pre- 
served there for ages, and of which some remains are still 
shown. The chapel is of the simplest construction, and its 
altar is of wood. The effigy of the virgin is small, and painted 
black. The origin of the pilgrimage of St. Amadour is lost in 
the night of time ; the history of the sacred personage him- 
self is not well understood, some coufounding him with the 
Zaccheus of the New Testament, and others with St. Amateur, 
Bishop of Auxerre. 

"St. Louis, convalescent from a long sickness, made in 1244 
a pilgrimage to our Lady of Eoc-Amadour, as did Charles le 
Bel and John of Bohemia, in 1324 ; and in 1463 the weak and 
superstitious Louis XL bestowed at her shrine a share of his 
devotions, carrying away with him upon his hat, we may 
suppose, one of the leaden signs of which he was so fond. 
Friends and enemies equally respected the pilgrims who car- 
ried these tokens ; and there is on record an account of an 
Englishman, who had been captured by the soldiers of Cahors, 
having been set at liberty immediately he was recognized as 
a pilgrim of our Ladye of Eoc-Amadour.'* The English acted 
in like manner ; but, to render this privilege available, it was 
necessary to cany the particular sign (called in the Latin 
deed sportula or sporletla). bearing upon one side the image of 
the virgin, and upon the other that of St. Amadour. The 
people of the town manufactured them in a somewhat diffe- 
rent manner, introducing the Veronica, but these were not so 
esteemed as the others. The Bishop of Tulle, as Abbe of Eoc- 
Amadour, granted the right to the former, and forbad the 
inhabitants to make them. But they sold both kinds, to earn 
a livelihood in those troublous times. At last it happened, 
in 1425, that the bishop permitted the inhabitants to sell 
both these kinds of signs during two years/'f 

(2.) Fig. 5. Sign of St. Peter ami SI. Paul in lead, dale 

12th century; a thin rectangular plaque, with a small loop 

at one corner for suspension, the otheis being abraded It is 

ins. ribed — 






* L'Abbd do Fonilhiac, Chron. 
Maimsc. du Quercy, ii L'an 1399 ; '/''■> 

Collec. Anti'j., vol. IV. 



t Fonilhiac, Manusc. du Quercy, 
a l'an 1425; quo Collec. Antiq., vol. 
IV. 



SEALS AND PILGRIMS SIGNS. 285 

A-SPE-SPA 

Ad } 

or VS. Petrum. S. Paulum. 
Apud j 

or 
Apostoli, S. Petrus. S. Paulus. 
Like the Papal bulla-seals/* it represents St. Peter and St. 
Paul ; but, in place of their busts, we have here their figures 
at full length, the symbolical cross and key between them. 
Were it not for the quaintly rude character of these figures, 
implying native workmanship (imitative apparently of the 
Byzantine), we might suppose this object to have been pur- 
chased by cue of our forefathers in the eternal city. It may, 
however, have been fabricated at some national shrine dedi- 
cated to these apostles. The reverse is covered with minute 
patterns variously chequered. It is in the collection of Mr. 
Joseph Mayer. 

(3.) Fig. 8. This is supposed to have been a portion of the 
rim of a pilgrim sign, the centre of which contained a 
device. It contained the well-known legend [IHS NA]- 
ZARENVS R[EX IVD.] The material is pewter. It is 
in the possession of Dr. Hume. — A.H. 

(4.) Fig. 9. This object, which is lead, appears to have 
been part of a brooch, as there is a narrow part of the rim on 
which an acus appears to have been hinged ; but it is gene- 
rally of the same sacred character as the pilgrims' signs. The 
legend, in Saxon characters, is AVE MARIA GRACIA. It 
is in Mr. Mayer's collection. — A. H. 

* Early seals of load obtained the appellation of bullce, hence the Papal 
Bulls.— See p. 140.— A. H. 



286 PART IT. — THE OBJECTS. 

XXXI.— COINS.*— Plate XXVII. 

The examples of the numismatic art found here, do not 
belong specifically to tins district; in fact, none such are 
known to exist. They constitute, however, a fair chrono- 
logical index to the several periods of occupation, as also to the 
general mass of the remains, a portion of which have happily 
been reserved from a second natural entombment in the sub- 
marine sandbanks, and secured from oblivion through the 
medium of these pages. 

The earliest of our series are the Carthaginian copper, for 
the occurrence of which, apart from the maritime position of 
the settlement, it might have been somewhat dim cult to 
account, but few Greek coins having occurred in England. 
When we consider, however, the remarkably adventurous 
spirit which animated the Phoenician and Carthaginian 
traders, there appears no valid reason why their operations 
upon our coasts should have been wholly confined to the 
Cornish and South Irish, as has been too generally and hastily 
assumed. One of the main attractions of Cornwall was its 
lead, and this metal might then be found in great abundance 
in our adjacent districts of North Wales, where numerous 
traces of Eoman, if not yet earlier, workings still exist, 
independently of large quantities of the rough ore then 
available in some localities upon the very surface of the 
ground. 

The Roman and contemporary British pieces are not very 
numerous. The forms are mostly of early date, commencing 
with the larger brass of the emperors Claudius and Nero ; thus 
showing that, from the beginning of the Pioman occupation of 
this country, a small seaport (if no larger settlement) existed 
here. Its site was in all probability nearly a mile seaward 
of the present high-water mark of spring lidos, and westward 
of Leasowe Castle. From amidst the Leaves, trunks, and 

• Written by Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith. — Sec note, p. ii7t5. 






coins. 287 

knotted roots of the monarchs of the ancient forest (a strip of 
which is always bare upon the beach), the coins and other small 
objects of this period are washed at the highest tides, especially 
when these are accompanied by strong northerly gales. 
The locality lies to the eastward of, and about half a mile 
from, that reach of the shore where relics of the mediaeval 
times predominate ; and this fact obviously points to the 
conclusion, that the advancing floods have constantly driven 
the settlement in a south-westerly direction, until, meeting 
the shifting sandhills from the Dee-mouth, the combined 
powers have eventually effected its total destruction. The 
second-brass coin of the Emperor Antonius Pius, unfortu- 
nately much corroded, is a scarce and nationally interesting 
piece, bearing upon its reverse the impersonation of Britan- 
nia seated upon a rock, and commemorative of successes 
achieved by Pius's generals in this country. The small-sized 
brass require little notice, as they belong to a late period of 
the empire, and are mostly of rude execution. Elsewhere, 
Roman sites have produced such in far greater numbers than 
the larger money ; that such is not the case here, is fully 
accounted for by the complete disappearance of the location 
of the buildings. 

Of the long and dark historic period intervening between the 
Roman evacuation and the union of the Saxon monarchies, three 
little coins are, so far as known, the sole numismatic repre- 
sentatives. These are types of the 8tyca, or half-farthing 
in copper,* a species of money which, until a comparatively 
recent period, was scarce, and little known even by the anti- 
quary. Its coinage is peculiar to the ancient kingdom of 
Deira or Northumbria, and is believed to have issued from its 
capital city Ebraice (York), during the seventh, eighth, and 
ninth centuries. That it was not, however, exclusively con- 



* Tims usually denominated ; they 
are, however, mostly of mixed metal, 
the predominating copper being more 
or less fused with gold, silver, lead, 



tin, or zinc. The name originated in 
the Anglo-Saxon Stirce, Bynonymotu 
with minuta pears, — Vide Trans. York. 
Phil Sue, Vol. L, 1856. 



288 PAST II. — THE OBJECTS. 

fined to royalty, is proved by many specimens bearing npon 
their obverses the names and titles of the spiritual sovereigns, 
the archbishops; and these were probably the earliest coins 
issued from the archiepiscopal mint here established, and 
which continued in operation for many centuries. Stycas of 
six kings and three archbishops are now well authenticated, 
whilst a few remain uncertainly appropriated ; but the great 
bulk of the hoards are composed of types of the two monarchs 
Eanred and Ethelred. These hoards or trouvailles (alJ 
brought to light within recent dates), generally including 
many thousands of pieces, have invariably occurred within 
the recognized boundaries of the kingdom named ; and we 
believe the occurrence even of single specimens vnthout those 
limits, as in the present instance, to be quite exceptional, 
if not hitherto unrecorded. 

The era of the united Saxon monarchy was one of consider- 
able vitality in our settlement, if the proportion of coins, 
taken in consideration with their age, be admitted as a fair 
index. Individually, also, these pieces are in excellent pre- 
servation, far better indeed than most of later dates found 
here. They include no less than five of Canute the Great ; 
and a fine silver penny of Ethelred IT. (the Unready) deserves 
mention, from bearing on its reverse an emblem of Christianity 
and a token of its advancement; viz., the hand of Providence 
placed between the Greek letters alpha and omega. The 
pennies of Eadgar and Edward the Confessor are only moieties, 
the complete coins having been halved presumably for " small 
change," by a pair of shears or other sharp instrument The 
custom of dividing and subdividing coins,* when the smaller 
coined pieces (halfpence and farthings in silver) were scarce, 
prevailed at this period, though by no means so generally as 
al. out three centuries later. The practice seems to have 
reached its heighi during the reigns of Henry lll.f and 
Edward I. and [I., despite the severe proclamations thereanent 



Vide VI XXV11., 6g8. 11, 12. f Sec Note at the close of the article 



coins. 289 

issued by the first of these sovereigns. For instance, the 
coins of these kings, catalogued below, comprise more halflings 
than whole pieces, mingled with numerous auarterlings, if 
we may be permitted to coin the word, the occurrence of 
which suggest that quartered Saxon pennies may have, been 
the real " feorthlingas " of the time. The total absence of any 
coined farthings of the Saxon era confirms our supposition, 
which is offered for the consideration of the professed numis- 
matist. 

Eeturning to the English halflings from the Cheshire shore, 
it will scarcely surprise the reader to note the large proportion 
designated uncertain, inasmuch as in very numerous instances 
not a single letter of the name (place of mintage) remains. 
Despite repeated attempts, also, we have never yet succeeded 
in identifying two moieties as having originally formed one 
and the same coin. 

The great bulk of our heterogeneous series will be found to 
appertain to the thirteenth century ; hence the induction that 
the settlement then attained the height of its prosperity. 
From this period its decline appears to have been rapid, 
pointing to some great flood or other disaster — during which 
the old forest was levelled and mostly swept away — as a 
proximate cause. At the commencement of the Elizabethan 
era, probably not even a single house remained standing upon 
the beach. 

The site of the settlement upon the shores of the Irish sea 
sufficiently accounts for the presence of numerous coins 
pertaining to the sister isle, from the silver pennies of King 
J oli n, first titular " Lord of Ireland," downward to the scarce 
copper farthings of Elizabeth, since which the coinage of the 
two countries has been interchangeable. 

The whole series is tabulated below in a distinctive form, 
all the scarcer and more interesting types receiving a full 
description. Important trouvailles of contemporary English 
coins are also noted for comparison. 

u 



290 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



CATALOGUE OF COINS. 



GREEK. 



Denomination. 

Silver I 

Drachma. 



Second or I 
MiddleBrass 



Sestertius 
First or large 
Brass. 
Do. 

Second 
Brass. 



Do. 
Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Obverse. 
Female head. 



Reverse. 

A horse standing ; coined at Car- 
thage. 



ROMAN, 
Claudius Cjesar, a.d. 41 — 54. 
" Ti. Claud. Caesar Aug. Germ." [j Minerva hurling a javelin ; on her 



Bare head of Claudius. 



left arm a circular buckler. 



Nero, a.d. 50—68. 



" Nero Caesar Aug. Ge 
Bare head of Nero. 



P.P. 



Broken and defaced so as to be 

illegible. 
" Nero Caesar Au, Germanic us." 

Bare head of Nero. 



The Emperor on horseback, attend- 
ed by two soldiers. 

Illegible. 

" Victoria Augusti S.C." A Vic- 
tory marching with palm branch 
and garland. 



Galea, a.d. 68 — 

" Lmp. Galba Caesar . . Cos. III. 

Bare head of Galba. 
Imp. Galba . . . P.P. 

Head of Galba. 



" Consecratio. " An eagle standing 
with partially expanded wings. 

Inscripton illegible. A female 
standing with garland and cor- 
nucopia. 



Inscription illegible. 
Vitellius. 



VlTELLIUS, A.D. 69 
Head of 



Inscription illegible, badly corrod- 
ed, and burnt. 



Vespasianus, a.d. 69 — 79. 



Inscription, <fec, illegible. 



Inscription illegible. A female 
figure standing between S. C. 
(Senatus Consultum.) 



Titus, a.d. 71—81. 



Sil. Dena- 



Pontif. Maxim." The emperor I 
seated as High Priest. 1 



T. IMP. CiES. VESP." . . . 
rius.* Laureated head of Titus, (PI. 

I XXVII, fig. 13.) II I 

* Denarius or Penny ; hence the Anglo-Gallic denier. At Wroxeter, the ancient Urico- 
nium, the common Roman brass coins are always termed duders, a corruption probably of 
this designation. 



DOMITIANUS, A.D. 69 — 81. 



Second 
Brass. 



Sil. Denarius 



'Imp. Caes. Domit. Aug. Germ. 
Laureated head of Domitian. 



Annona Aug." The emperor | 
seated, presenting a gift to a 
young boy; in the exergue, S.C. | 1 



Hadrianus, a.d. 117 — 138. 



Second 
Brass. 



i iri Brass. 



"Imp. Hadrianus Augustus." 
Laureated head of Hadrian, (PI. 

XXVII. fig. 14.) 

" Imp. Cies. Ner. Traian Hadrian- 
US." Laureated head of Hadrian. 



Tranquillitas Aug. P. P. " Figure 
of Tranquillity standing with the 
Sasta. in the exergue "Cos. III." 
Pax cos II I., s. 0." Figure of 
Peace seated. 



Do. 



Second 



Antoninus Pius, a.d. 138 — 161. 

•• Virtus Lug., S 0." The goddess 
of Virtue standing. 

Inscription illegible. A female 

standing. 

" r.ritannui.Cos. HI " Britain per- 
sonified, with shield, <fcc, seated 
upon a rock. 



In)]' Antoninus Aug Tins." 
Laureated bead ol" 1'ius. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 



COINS. 



291 



Denomination* 
First Brass, 



Second 
Brass. 



Marcus Aurelius, a.d. 161 — 80. 

Obveb.se. Bevebse. No. 



Do. 



Denarius of 
base silver. 



Third Brass. 
Do. 



Do. 



Do. 
Do. 



Do. 
Do. 



Do. 



Aurelius Caesar Aug. Pii FiL' 
Bare head of Aurelius. 



. . . . III. COS. VIII. . . 
S.C." A figure standing with 
spur and cornucopia 



Faustina, Empress of Aurelids. 

Inscription illegible. II Inscription illegible. 

Head of Faustina, junior. || A Sphinx. 

Crispina, Empress of Commodcs, a.d. 180 — 3. 
Inscription illegible. Head of il Inscription illegible. 



Crispina. 



Herennius Etruscus, a.d. 251. 



: Q. Her. Etr. Mes. Decius." 
Crowned head of Herennius 
Etruscus. 



"Spes Publica." 
Hope standing with emblems. 



Gallienus, a.d. 253 — 68. 



Inscription illegible. 

Crowned head of Gallienus. 
" Gallienus Aug." 

Crowned head of Gallienus. 



• ' Oriens Aug. " 

The Emperor marching. 

"Libero 

A lion walking. 



Imp. C. Piav. Victorinus." 
Crowned head of Victorinus. 



Tetricus (Senior), a.d. 267 — 72. 



"Imp. C. Tetricus . . ." 
Crowned head of Tetricus. 

Inscription illegible. 
Crowned head of Tetricus. 



" as Aug." A 

Victory standing with palm- 
branch and garland. 

" Virtus Augustus." 

Sacrificial instruments. 



Claudius Gothicus, a.d. 268 — 70. 



"Imp. C. Claudius Aug." 
Crowned head of Gothicus. 

"Divo Claudio." 
Crowned head of Gothicus. 



"Felicitas Aug." 

Felicity standing with caduceus and 

cornucopia. 
" Consecratio. " 
An eagle standing with expanded 

wings. 



Postdmus, a.d. 268 — 9. 



Inscription illegible ; head of Pos- 
tumus. 



Illegible. 



I x 



Victorinus, a.d. 265 — 7. 

" Victoria Aug. " AVictory march- 
ing with palm-branch and garland . 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Tetricus (Junior), a.d. 267 — 75 



"Imp. Tetricus P. L. Aug." 
Crowned head of the younger 
Tetricus. 



" Hilaritas Aug." Hilarity per- i 
sonified, holding a wand and a | 
cornucopia. | 1 



Carausius, a.d. 287 — 93. 



Imp. Carausius P. F. Aug. " 
Bust of Carausius radiated to the 
right. 



Pax. Aug. Peace standing, holding 
a flower in the right hand, and a 
long sceptre in the left. In the 
field, P. O. In exergue, M. L. 
(Moneta Londinii.) 

(An unpublished var. of the Pax 
type, in excellent preservation. ) 



Con8Tantinus Magnus, a.d. 306—37. 



Inscription illegible. 
Head of Constantino the Great. 



I " Gloria Kxcrcitus." Two soldiers I 
with spears and shields between 
two ensigns. | 2 



292 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



Denomination, 
Third Brass 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 
Do. 



Styca, or 
half-farthing 
in Copper. 



Do. 
Do. 



CONSTANTIUS II., A.D. 323 

Obverse. 

Aug." 



D. N. Constantuis P. F. 
Head of Constantius II 



Reverse. 
Fel. Temp. Reparatio." A mili- 
tary figure, armed with shield 
and spear, striking at an enemy, 
who is falling from his horse 



Constats, a.d. 337 — 50. 



ConstansP. F. Aug.' 
head of Constans. 



Laureated 



Victoria, D. D. Aug. Conn." 
Two Victories, each with a gar- 
land, between them D. In the 
exergue T. R. P. 



Valentinianus a.d. 364 — ' 
Head II Illegible. 



5. 



: D. N. Valentinianus Aug 
of Valentinian I. 



Valens, a.d. 364- 



"D. N. Valens P. F. Aug." Head 
of Valens. 

Ditto. 



' ; Restitutor Reipublicae " 

Inscription illegible. Two military 
figures standing. 



Magnus Maximtjs, a.d. 383 — 8. 



Sil. Denarius! 



Second and 
Th..d Brass 



Small Gold 
Copper 



; D. Is. Mag. Maximus P. F. Aug." 
Head of Magnus Maximus. 



Much worn and illegible. 



Virtus Roman orum." Ahelmeted 
female seated, holding a globe 
and a spear. In the exergue, 
T. R. P. S. 



BRITISH. 



Much worn. 

A bold outlined male head, copied 
from a Greek original; this is 
the most frequent type of the 
ancient British or Gaulish copper, 
and generally occurs in the 
Channel Islands. 



A rudely shaped horse and wheel, 
in imitation of some Greek 
reverse. 



SAXON AND DANISH. 
Redulf, King of Northumbria. 

(Slain at York after a few months' usurpation, a.d. 844. 



Redulf Rex ;" a small cross in 
the field. A scarce coin. 



Coenned,"oneof the eight known 
moneyers of this monarch ; a 
small cross in the field. 



Ethelred, King of Northumbria, a.d. 840—8 
plain cross. 



Ethelred Rex," 
Ditto 



Moneyer's name illegible. 
"Fordred,"a plain cross in the 
centre. 



Trouvailles of Stycas.— He worth, Durham: Hexham, Northumberland 80,000), Kirk- 
oswald, Cumberland (GOO), Mint Yard, York (10,000), Ulleskelf, near York (800). 



Eadgar, King of England, a.d. 958- 



Sil. Tenny. I "Eadg. 



Filleted head 



.... e<vfer" (York) A small I 
cross in the centre of the field. 



and bust of Eadgar. cross in the centre o\ the field. 1 

C h'e.f Trouvailles.— Inch Kenneth, Hebrides, 1840— Tiree, Hebrides, 17S2— Derry Keeran. 

Ethelred II., a.d. 978 — 1010. 



Do. 



Do. 



A.ethelred Etez Anglor. 
and bust of Ethelred 
Unready. PL \\\ u. 



" Head 
IT. (the 
fig. 15. 



" Ledilred Etei anglorum." Head 
and bust of Ethelred LX, with 

sceptre in front. 



Aethestan— M— Cant." (Can- 
terbury. A hand, denoting that 

Of l'r>\idenee. between tbe Creek 

Letters Alpha and Omega. la 
line preservation, 
. . . . rio MO. Lu. . ." [London) 
ami " Crux" in the angles of ■ 

Voided 0X088 Within the inner 

circle. 



COINS. 



293 



Canute, a.d. 1016 — 35. 



Denomination- 
Silver penny 



Do. 



Do. 



Obverse. 

"Cnut Recx. An." Head and bust 
of Cnut with conical crown ; 
sceptre surmounted by three 
pellets to the right. PI. XXVII. , 
fig. 16. Small size. 

' ' Cnut Recx. " Full bust of Cnut. , 
the head filleted. Small size. 



Reverse. 



L. . . seof on Leice." (Leicester. ) 
A voided cross within a pearled 
circle, the limbs not conjoined, 
but attached by loops, each con- 
taining a pellet ; in the centre 
a pellet within an annulet. 
• Etsige on Scro," (Scrobbes-burh, 
now Shrewsbury. ) A double or 
voided cross, the limbs meeting 
in an annulet, with central 
pellet, all within a plain circle. 
: Swileman (or Swigeman) on 
WIN." (Winchester.) In the 
field similar to the last. Swilt- 
man occurs in Ruding's list of 
the moneyers of this monarch. 
Mem. — One or more coins of this type were found among a hoard of above 300 pieces of 
Canute's money, together with armlets of silver (enclosed in cows' horns) in Caldale Moss, 
near Kirkwall, Orkney, in 1774. — Vide Gough's Catalogue of Canute's Coins. Other large 
trouvoAlles of this sovereign's coins have occurred in Isle of Skye 4 300), Halton Moor, near 
Lancaster (500), Cuerdale, near Preston, &c. 



Similar to the last, and in the 
best state of preservation. 



Silver 


No legend. Head of Canute. 


jl No legend 


Halfpenny. 






Do. 


Badly struck. do. 


1 1 Illegible. 



Small cross in centre. 



Silver Penny 
of Edward. 



Silver Penny 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Do. 



Halfpenny. 

Farthing. 

Penny. 



Edward the Confessor, a.d. 1042 — 1066. 



EADPRD . . . ." Full bust 
of Edward the Confessor, with 
sceptre to the right. 



; . . . on Lun" (London). A 
voided cross with P. A.C.X. in 
the angles, and a central pellet 
within an annulet. Small size. 



Trouvaille at Bettam, Westmoreland. 

ENGLISH AND IRISH. 

William II. (Rufus), a.d, 1087 — 1100. 



"Pillem R. Rex." Bust of William 
Rufus, with sceptre and one pel- 
let upon the right shoulder, and 
three pellets on the left. 



P. A.X.S. in angles of a cross baton- 
nee. Trouvailles; York, 1704 
(250) and 1845— Beaworth, Hants, 
(12,000.) 



Henry II., a d. 1154—1189. 

Minted at London, Bristol, &c. ; a few illegible. 

Trouvailles, Tealbv, Lincolnshire, 1807. — Bed of the Dove, Tutbury, 
Staffordshire, 1831, (200,000.) 

John, a.d. 1199—1216. 

Minted at Dublin and Limerick. No English money known of this reign. 
Ob. — Full-faced crowned bust within a triangle. Rev.— Star and cres- 
cent within a triangle. These objects were styled John's Livery, and 
probably formed his cognizance. 

Henry III., a.d. 1216—1272. 

26 minted at London ; 7 at Canterbury ; 1 at Berwick ; 1 at Bristol ; 

1 at Durham; 1 at Hereford : 3 at Dublin head in triangle, a scarce 

coin) ; and 32 uncertain or illegible. 
(Of the above many are inscribed REX. ANG.) 

Edward I. and II., a.d. 1272—1327. 

(Numismatists fail to discriminate between the coins of the two first 

Edwards . 
30 Minted at London ; 14 at Canterbury; 4 at Chester; 3 at Durham ; 

1 at York ; 1 at Berwick ; 1 at Bristol ; 1 at Dublin ; 2 at Waterford, 

PL XXVII., fig. IS: and L6 uncertain or illegible. 
1 minted at London, the others illegible. 
Mintage uncertain j a 
Counterfeit sterlings Of this period. The "'"'• rw displays a youthful 

bust, the head bearing a chapletof three roses ; reverse, a cross with 

three pellets in each angle resembling conte nporary coin. 



14 



72 



68 



294 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



Denomination 
Gold \ Noble 

Sil. Groat. 
,, Penny. 
„ Half- 
penny. 



„ Penny. 
„ Half- 
penny. 



Penny. 



Edward III., a.d. 1327—1377. 

Known only from description, having been disposed of by the finder to l 

Jew pedlar. 
Minted at London. 
1 minted at Berwick, and 1 uncertain. 

Minted at London, a scarce coin. 

KlCHARD II., A.D. 1377—1399. 



Minted at York. These scarce coins are, as usual, badly clipped. 

Henry IV. or V., a.d. 1399—1413. 

Minted at York. 

Counterfeit in mixed mstal. Ob. — Crowned head ; no legend. Rev. 
Cross with pellet-roses in the angles ; no legend. 



Henry VIII., a.d. 1509—1547. 

Hf.Groat| Minted at Canterbury. 

Philip and Mary, 1554 — 1558. 

Groat. I Ob. — "Philip et Maria, Rex et Regina." Bust of Mary alone, a scarce 
coin ; one of them in fine preservation. 
„ I Ob. — "Philip et Maria, Rex et Regina," with heads of Philip and Mary. 



Elizabeth, 1558—1603. 



„ Groat. 

„ Hf. Groat 

„ Half 
Shilling. 

„ Quarter 
Shilling. 

,, Two- 
penny 
Piece. 
Copper 
Farthing. 



Gold Double 
Crown 

Sil. Sixpence 
Cop. Bodle. 
„ Half 
Farthing 



Sil. Shilling. 
Copper 
Farthing. 
Do. 



Copper Half 
Farthing. 



Silver Two- 

Oop. Penny 
or EUfpenny. 
(op. Penny. 



Date illegible. 
„ 15'J3. 



-1649. 



Farthing 



No- 



I 1 



1533, 1572, 1575, 1531. 
1573. 



Irish ; dated 1601, a scarce coin. Specimins of the first copper money 
current in the realm since the dissolution of the Heptarchy. A very 
limited number of these farthings appear to have been struck as an 
experiment, but they were unaccountably received with disfavour by 
the Irish, who opprobriously termed them smulkcrs. 

James I., a.d. 1603 — 25. 

Ob. — Bust of James I. Rev. — " Henricus Rosas Rcgna JetCS&US,* an 
allusion to the Union of the Roses by Henry (VII.,) and of English and 
Scottish crowns through himself. First issued in 1604. 



The Scotch twopenny piece. 
Irish. 

Charles L, a.d. 1625- 

Mint mark, an eye. 



Scotch ; thistle crowned. 

Irish: David, king of Israel, seated with face upturned, and playing 
upon a harp; above, a crown. Inscription, "Fhreai Bex." Rev. — " Quiet- 

cat Plebs." St. Patrick in full canonicals driving the " varmint" out of 
Ireland ; behind, a cathedral. 

English. Rev. — The royal rose. 

Charles II., a.d. 1660—85. 

A " Maundy" piece without date. 

Token (provincial), Illegible, being both mtMb worn and corroded. 
Do. (do.), Ob.— " Thomae Knight;* * roll of tobacco in the 

B Id. Rev.— "Of Carnarvon, 1667; "Id in tho field, with a star to the left. 

" i ■ iml„* a Carolo." Rcc— Britannia seated. 



COINS. 



295 



Denomination. 
Shilling. 
Do. 



Guinea. 



Halfpenny. 
Fartning. 
Do. 



Shilling. 

Halfpenny. 

Farthing. 



Sil. Penny. 



Denier. 



Brass 
Counter. 
Cop. — ? 

Do. 
Cop. Jetton. 



Do. 



James II., a.d. 1685—9. 

" Gun money," dates, Feb. and 10r (October) 16S9, (Old Style.) 
Pewter, with plug of brass in centre. Ob. — Head of James II. in very 

low relief. Rev. — Plain; a scarce piece. 
The above are fair examples of James's Irish mintages, in which all 

sorts of articles in copper, brass, <fcc, were employed. 

William III. and Mart, a.d. 1689—94. 



No. 
3 

1 



These pieces (lost probably in one of "Williams's vessels wrecked here) 
are still occasionally picked up on the old ' ' Mockbeggar " bank, and upon 
Hilbre Island. Several are preserved at Leasowe Castle in a box formed 
from the black oak of the ancient forest, but they are usually found to 
be much worn, and soon reach the melting pot. Estimated number ; — 

Much worn. 

English ; date 1699. 

Irish; date 1694. 

William III., a,d. 1694—1702. 

Date, 1697. 

,, 1693, 1699, 1701 ; Irish, date illegible. 
Irish. 

Miscellaneous. 

Of Alex. II. king of Scotland, A.r>. 1214—49. Ob.— " Alexander Rex." 
Head of Alex. IL, with sceptre to the right. Rev. — A voided cross ter- 
minating in pellets, with a six-pointed star in each angle, within a 
pearled circle. 

Anglo -Gallic (?) Ob. — "Dux angle ;" a lion rampant upon a 

spade shield. Rev. — "I Dei Gratia;" a voided cross terminating in 
pellets, with W. A. L. T. in the angles. 

Fabricated at Nuremberg, 16 century, various types. 

Ob. — "DeiG. .;" an eagle with expanded wings. Rev — " Rex Sicilie.'" 
Possibly a coin of John, king of Sicily and Arragon, who reigned 1458-79. 

Sigismund of Poland. 

Ob. — " Ferdinandus Rex ; " a crowned head. Rev. — " Equitas Re Ni;" 
probably intended for Equitas in re ; a horse walking. 

Continental. Ob. — A spade-shield charged with three Fleur-de-lys, 
" Useum cum Trer." Rev. — A triple-barred cross within a quatrefoil, 
a small cross in centre, and T in each angle. 



Total number of Coins and Tokens, 347 

Abstract — Classification. 

Roman and Greek (Col.) Coins 58 

Ancient British do. 3 

Saxon and Danish do. 12 

English, Scotch, and Irish do. 251 

Miscellaneous Pieces 23 

Total number 347 

Note.— Dies in lead, about half an inch square, and stamped in relief with a cross or 
quatrefoil within a beaded square border, sometimes occur. They may possibly date from 
the 8th to the 13th century, and beiug alike in size, and of uniform types, the writer con- 
ceives they have served in lieu of legal coin when silver was scarce. This supposition 
appears to be confirmed by the occurrence of similar objects among St yeas of Ethelred of 
Northumbria, near Peverel Castle, Derbyshire, in 1814. — Vide Bateman's Descriptive Cata- 
logue of his valuable Museum, p. 102. 



Note. — About the year 1248, Henry III. issued a new coinage, and former mintages 
having been subjected to a very general clipping, he caused the voided oro$s upon the 
reverse, which had previously only occupied the centre, to be extended to the outer edge of 
the piece, thus rendering any mutilation apparent. So general had the cross become upon 
coins, that for some time the words appear to have been synonymous, as illustrated in the 
following quotations — 

Touch.— "For my part I had rather bear with you than bear you, yet I should bear no 
cross if I did bear you, for I think you have no money in your purse— ShakspeOM, At Y&u 
Like It, ii. 4. 

Tiny may have shame to Jet so up and down, 
When the) i»- debtors fox doublet, hose, and gowne ; 
Ami in t ii 
When never a emu* is in thehr court I 

Barclay, CyteMn and i r i. Man, xii. 
See also notice, p. 274, under the head " Gypcieres." 



"Tlioy wrrc so pin'd 
They could not and 

A croti loft in tlicir pax 

Civic Garland p. 70. 



296 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



XXXII.— MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES, METAL. 
Plates XXVIIL, XXIX. 

1. — Objects tjnclassed. — Plate XXVIII. 

On Plate XXVIII. a number of articles have been engraved 
which, require to be noticed separately, as they do not admit 
of grouping under several heads. 

(1.) Fig. 1 represents a portion of a leaden brooch, akin to 
Plate V., fig. 7. It is of coarse rude workmanship, like Plate 
VI., fig. 8. Fig. 2, also lead, is probably a portion of a 
pilgrim sign* on which the features of Peter and Paul were 
impressed. It is of early manufacture,! — (For Pilgrim Signs, 
see Chap. XXX.) 

(2.) Fig. 3 has been engraved as if it were a small fermail 
or buckle-brooch, the dotted line representing the acus ; but 
it may have been an ornamental object for suspension, like 
some of those to be alluded to. It is brass. 

(3.) The uses of figs. 4, 5, 6, which are all of brass, are 
unknown ; but it has been surmised that they were somehow 
connected with horse-harness, as pendants of an ornamental 
kind. Fig. 6 is like a swing handle of a coffer or drawer ; 
and fig. 5 is said to be of the fifteenth century. J 

(4.) Fig. 7 is of lead or pewter, the triangular portion of 
which originally stood at right angles to the plane of the 
lower portion. The latter has been bent up, however, so as to 
appear along with the former. Fig. 8, of brass, is part of a 
swivel, and reminds one of the objects described under the 
head of Hasps— p. 114. See Plate X., figs. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. 
Fig. 9 is a massive human head of brass, with projections at 
the sides, and something like embryo horns. Figs. 10 and 11 
appear to be counters of lead. They are evidently stamped 
from the same die. 

* A. W. F. \ X A. W. F. 

t C. K. S. 



XKVIIL 




BR 0" HUME'S HOYLAKE.ANT 



J E WORRALL LI 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES -METAL -A 



MISCELLANEOUS AETICLES. 



297 



(5.) Figs. 12 and 13 are of iron, in some respects resembling 
the fastenings at the leaves of a dining-table ; bnt the two 
openings are both on fig. 12, and fig. 13 appears to have been 
perfect with only one. One can conceive numerous purposes 
which such implements would serve ; but it is difficult to 
offer a probable conjecture as to the real one. 

(6.) Figs. 14 and 16 are both of stamped lead or pewter ; 
and it has been conjectured that the latter was part of a 
Pilgrim Sign. 

(7.) Fig. 15 is of brass, and 
apparently a decoration for some 
wooden object. The two ends for 
insertion have been turned down 
or clenched, allowing for an inter- 
vening object of about half an 
inch in thickness. Very frequently 
the thickness of wood is shown 
thus, as in the annexed figure, 
which appears to have been the 
ring surrounding a wooden tube. 

(8.) Staples of iron, none of which 
are shown on the plate, are found 
like that in the margin. They may 
be ancient or modern ; but in all 
probability they are not old, as the 
corrosion is not great. 




Brass King and Nails. 




Iron Staple. 



2.— Fire Arms.— Plate XXIX., Fig. 1. 



There are no muskets found on the Cheshire coast, nor any 
cannon ; though we know of course that soldiers who em- 
ployed these weapons arrived at and departed from the 
neighbourhood by sea. Even the list of departures, given 
pp. 28 — 34, though meant to be merely suggestive, includes 
musketeers and cannoniers of the close of the sixteenth 



298 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

century, and of the whole of the seventeenth. We are aware, 
too, that the heavy cannon which Duke Schomberg shipped 
at Hoylake in 1689, was that which permanently injured the 
Long Bridge of Belfast, then new and unconsolidated. But, 
though actual cannon and muskets have not been found, we 
have satisfactory indications that both existed. 

(1.) Musket Rest— The object exhibited on Plate XXIX., 
fig. 1, is that which is well known under the name of a 
" musket-rest." This was a short stick, somewhat similar to 
that which supports the shaft of a cart in modern times, 
but longer. It had an iron socket or ferrule which partially 
fastened it in the ground, and an iron fork at the top, 
between the points of which the heavy musket was laid 
during the process of firing. It may be remarked that 
portable fire-arms or hand-cannons date from about 1430 ; 
and that in some cases they were so cumbrous that the gunner 
was obliged to rest his gun, and level it on his own shoulder, 
firing of course without aim. The matchlock remained in use 
till the time of William III., and a " rest " of some kind, but 
not a formal professional one, was in use by many so late as 
the time of George III. That the object was in use in this 
district is clear from evidence of various kinds. Among this 
may be mentioned that on the window of the Old Hall of 
Tranmere, built in 1614, and described by Mr. Mayer in 1851 ; 
one figure represents a musketeer, performing the operation of 
blowing in his pan, while the " rest " is attached to his gun- 
stock, and by means of a hinge lies along it, projecting at the 
butt.* The other evidence is, that in 1621 they were in use 
in Lancashire, as mentioned in the Shuttleworth Accounts :f — 

To John Harmer, armo'rer for fyve ruuskettes with restes and 
raouldes, (at xiiij s with the rest and mouldes,) iij 1 . x\ 

On one of the roundells or fruit-trenchers of the time of 
James I., the soldier is represented with sword, buff, and 



* Transactions Hist. Soc.,III., 109. | t Shuttleworth Ace, 249. 



XXIX 




0" HUME'S HOYLAKE AKTT 



JEWORRALL LlTH. 



MISCELLANEOUS OBJECTS_METAJ,_B. 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 299 

bandoliers, musket, match, and rest. He carries the rest per- 
pendicularly in his left hand, and the musket over his 
shoulder. Bound the rim of the trencher are eight lines of 
verse, descriptive of the soldier's profession and character.* 

In a list of the charges made by the armourers, gun-makers, 
pike-makers, and bandolier-makers, June, 1649, there is 
enumerated the following :f — 

For a musket rest, x d . 

The " English-Irish soldier " is represented in an old ballad 
of 1642 as carrying plunder of various kinds ; he has nine 
bottles slung round him after the manner of the buff and 
bandoliers ; and in his right hand he carries an agricultural 
hay-fork with the points upwards. To these there is the 
following allusion : — 

This Forke my Keste is ; 

and my Bandoliers 
Canary Bottles, 

that can quell base fears. 

(2.) "Swine's Feather" or " Prod." — It will be observed that 
our illustration exhibits a projecting spike between the forks 
of the musket-rest. This was known as the " sweyn's feyther," 
or swine's feather. It consisted of a spike or " prod," some- 
times of such length as to lie along the whole length of the 
rest, and sometimes short, like a dagger. In the latter case it 
was inserted in the hollow of the shaft, coming out on touching 
a spring. It was invented in the seventeenth century to protect 
the musketeer when loading ; and may be regarded as the pre- 
cursor of the modern bayonet. This latter implement, which 
takes its name from Bayonne in France, was originally called the 
" swine's feather " also, and resembled it in so far that it was 
inserted in the muzzle of the musket. It was thus called the 
^?/Y7-bayonet,as distinguished from the sockct-hny onctof ourown 
time. In the great fire at the Tower of London in 1841, there 

* Archaeologia, XXXIV., 235. | + Merrick. 



300 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



were 2025 of these old plug-bayonets destroyed. It is related 
that, in one of the campaigns of William III. in Flanders, 
three French regiments were furnished with the socket- 
bayonet, then unknown in England. Col. Maxwell, who 
opposed them with the British 25th foot, thought that of 
course they meant to decide the contest point to point, but 
was astonished on a nearer approach, when the French poured 
in a heavy fire, which he had thought an impossibility * 

(3.) Grunstones. — Among the objects discovered is also a stone 
cannon-ball, about three inches in diameter ; and, as the use 
of stone bullets was abandoned in the reign of Queen Eliza- 
beth, this object probably belongs to the 15th century, or the 
early half of the 16 th. 

On the 6th of February, 1553-54, the following record oc- 
curs : — 

Towardes night ther was laden x or xij cartes with orde- 
nance, as billes, morice-pikes, speres, bowes, arowes, gon-stoncs, 
pouder, shovelles, mattokes, spades, baskets, and other muny- 
tion, and ther went out ij culverings, one sacre, iij faucous and 
a fauconett.f 

The xij day of July [1553], by nyght, was cared to the 
Towre iij carts full of all maner of ordenans, as great gune 
and smalle, bowes, bylls, speres, mores pykes, arnes, arowes, 
gunpowther, and wetelle, monay, tentes, and all maner of or- 
denans, gunstones a gret nombur, and a gret nombur of men 
of armes. \ 

There is an allusion to them by Sir David Lindsay, in his 
Complaint of John the Gommoun Weill. 

All hir greit cannounis scho lat crak at anis, 
Doun scliuke the strearaaris from the top castell ;§ 
They sparit not the poulder nor the stanis. 

In 1843, about thirty-two specimens of stone shot were 
found at the Tower of London, during the process of levelling 



* Archaologia, XXXVIII. 423. 
t QneenJane&ndQnten Mary —4" 

X Marilyn's Diary, p. 36. 



§ This was part of a ship of war, 
which is represented as discharging 

stones. 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 



301 



the moat for sanitary purposes. They varied in diameter from 
ten inches to four and a half. In a paper descriptive of them, 
by Eobert Porret, Esq., of the Tower,* he quotes a list of shot, 
given in 1575, from which it appears that they were occasion- 
ally polished. 

Stone shotte polished, viz' for canon pirriers, 8. 
On comparing this number with the number of shot in all, 
it appears that about one-tenth were of stone. 
3.— Axes.— Fig. 2. 
The Assyrian axes shown in LayarcVs Illustrations appear 
to be of solid metal, and to have broad edges and heads 
behind. One (Plate lxxvi.) appears to be a double axe. Amono- 
the Eomans, including those who inhabited this country, 

the bi-pennis or 
double axe was 
in use j and in 
the Merovingian 
graves, at the ce- 
metery of Enver- 
meu,f several 
double axes were 
found. Each was 

Merovingian Double Axe, Valley of the Eaulne. eigllt and. a Hall 

inches long, and of iron ; but, like an agricultural hoe, had 
its edges at right angles to each other. In an Anglo- 
Norman vocabulary of the eleventh century, the term 
bi-pennis is explained by " stan-ex," + so that it is not un- 
likely that many of the stone axes were of that form, which 
is still shown in some of the specimens that remain. 

in a manuscript of the Douce collection in the Bodleian 
Li 1 nary, is a picture of an Irish kerne driving off cattle, the 
iron axe which he holds in his hand being nearly an equi- 
lateral triangle. In Minister's Cosmographia Universalis,^ the 




* Archaol., XXX., 323. 

t Arclijcologia, XXXV., 229. 



| Mayer's Vocabularies, p. 34. 
§ Page 28. 



302 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



German miners are represented as possessed of an axe which 
is all blade and no head, like the one figured here, (Plate 
XXIX., fig. 2.) A similar one is shown in La Normandie 
Soiderraine* but it is curved in the blade, and broader at the 
cutting edge. The axe held in the hand 
of Dermot MacMurrough, formerly King 
of Leinster, is of this shape. The block 
is one of those kindly lent me by the Eoyal 
Irish Academy, from their Catalogue, 
(p. 310 ;) and the original is found in an 
illuminated copy of Giraldus, in the pos- 
session of Sir Thomas Phillips, Bart. In 
the Lady Chapel of Winchester Cathedral, 
three schoolboys are represented as raising 
columns by a windlass ; and an axe lies 
on the floor precisely of the form given 
here.f In this example, fig. 2, the flakes 
of oak wood adhere to the inner side of 
the socket ; and, when found, it had a 
dark handle about eighteen inches long, 
which crumbled away. 

In the year 963, it was enacted that 
every man possessing six marks must D ^£^^^SSfiJP n8 
provide himself with a shield and spear, also with a sword 
or axe ; and John de Garlande mentions several kinds of them 
by which the beams of a house are shaped. These are in 
English the " hachet, brode axe, twybyl," J &c. One is shown 
in the Journal of the Arcliocological Association, with a sort of 
pickaxe at the back.§ 

Iu 1502, an axe cost tenpence, as appears by the privy 
purse expenses of Elizabeth of York ; and the Shuttlcworth 
Accounts show us that, from 1586 to 1620, an axe usually 




* Page 22. 

t Winchester Vol. of Arch. Assoc. 
PL xiv., div. 8. 



J Mavor's Vocal)., 137. 
§ Voi. XII., PL v. 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 303 

cost a shilling or fifteen-pence.* Not only axes, but other 
warlike implements, are found much more frequently in 
Frankisk graves than in those of the Anglo-Saxons ; f so that 
in ancient as in modern times, our Gallic neighbours would 
seem to have preferred the sword and the spear, while our own 
ancestors chose the ploughshare and pruning-hook. The axe 
figured here has no doubt been used for the purposes of 
peaceful industry ; and it is interesting to find it in close 
proximity to the stumps and trunks of forest-trees. 

In 1853, a paper by W. M. Wylie, Esq., was read at 
the Society of Antiquaries, in which he mentions]: some 
axes found near Envermeu, in France, as possessing the form 
of the original double axe. In the full length of its two 
blades, each is eight and a half inches. It is shaped like an 
agricultural hoe. One is given at the top of this article, and 
this one as a tail-piece. 




Merovingian Double Axe,Valley of the Eaulne. 

4. — Swords and Daggers. — Figs. 3, 5. 
The sword vv T as at one time the most important implement of 
offence and defence ; but, since the invention of gunpowder, it 
has gradually declined in practical importance. It now, in a 
great degree, occupies the place of a truncheon of office, and 
affords a subject for poetic similitudes. Swords and daggers 
are here taken together, because in many cases they differ 
only in size, and when the dagger was double-edged, like a 
sword, it is difficult or impossible to distinguish them. 

* Page 419. t Archacologia, XXXV., 229. 

t Proceedings S. A., II., 1G9. 



304 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



Ail ordinary form of the ancient sword may be given here 
in the annexed woodcut. 



Ordinary Sword. 

One of the first points to remark is the rarity of swords. 
Among thousands of objects in a district passed over by tens 
of thousands of soldiers, not one has been found, and the only 
relics of the kind which we can produce, are two pieces of 
mounting which belonged to a sword and dagger respectively. 
This and other facts serve to show us that they belonged to a 
people of peaceful occupations, and who cultivated the arts of 
life more than the practices of war. It is said that swords were 
restricted to the rich in the early and mediaeval periods,* and 
this fact would also serve to show that the persons who owned 
the majority of these various relics, were what Gray calls " the 
rude forefathers of the hamlet." Both swords and daggers 
existed among the ancient Assyrians, and sometimes they were 
very ornamental. The oldest examples, both here and in other 
lands, were of bronze ; iron is comparatively modern. The 
Eoman sword was short and strong; that of the ancient 
Gauls was long and badly tempered, so that it was sometimes 
necessary to straighten it with the foot, like a piece of hoop- 
iron. Among the American Indians, the sword never was 
common, and even at present, with all their instruction by 

Europeans, it is hardly 
known. 

On Saxon sword- 
hilts pommels wore 
very rare ; but they 
do occur occasionally. 
One was found in Kent 
in 1772,f of which 
the annexed cut is a 




Bword-hilt with Pommel. 



* Archaol.. XXXVIII., 91, 



| f Inv. Sq>., 182. 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 



305 



representation. The strig or part grasped by the hand is five 
inches and three quarters long, the breadth of the shoulder 
next the blade three quarters of an inch, and the blade itself 
only thirteen inches and a quarter long, and its breadth at 
the handle one inch and three-eighths. This is what we 
would call a large knife ; but examples of this kind are 
common in modern times also. In the Spirit of the East, 
Mr. Urquhart informs us that the modern Greek divides a. 
lamb at table with his dagger, precisely as the Homeric heroes 
did nearly 3000 years ago. Another pommel, of silver, is 
shown here from Kingston Down, Kent. 
It was set with rectangular pieces of a cal- 
careous paste ; it is given of the full size. 
In another instance, a pommel of iron was 
discovered, but, though of such rude mate- 
rials, it is a very graceful and elegant object, 
suver Pommel. rjr^g adjoining cuts represent its side and top. 





Iron Pommel— Side View. 




Iron Pommel— Seen Vertically. 



One of these knife-like or dagger-like swords, eight inches 
long, is here represented, and it was only a type of a very 
numerous class, as the same form is frequently referred to by 
Faussett* 






Knife -like Sword— 8 inches long. 

Another of the same kind, but wanting the knob or pommel 
at the end of the strig, was ten inches long. Its figure also 
is subjoined — 



* Inv. Sep., pp. 7, 11, 29, &C. 



306 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




Knife-like Sword— Saxoi). 

The materials of which the sheaths were made were very 
various; in the first instance they were no doubt frequently 
of wood, like the knife-sheaths alluded to p. 180. In some 
instances these were covered with leather or skin, and after- 
wards leather alone was employed. In not a few instances 
we know that even cloth was used for scabbards. At both top 
and bottom a piece of metal was necessary — in the former case 
to give firmness to the opening of the scabbard, and to 
mi£u*ain it in suitable form; in the latter case it was known 
as the " chape," and served in a great degree the same 
purposes as the tag or pendant on a strap. The pendant 
pr ited the strap from being curled, or distorted, or worn 
away, and rendered it more manageable in the process of 
buckling and unbuckling; so the chape prevented the leather 
from being worn or pierced through. In almost any pictorial 
representation of sword and scabbard, the chape may be seen. 
Sometimes, however, it is unusually obvious, as in the four 
paintings on the windows of Tewkesbury Abbey,* and occa- 
sionally it is of a peculiar shape, as on the brass of Norwich 
of Brampton.f An interesting example is shown from the 
Fairford graves ; and, in the Arcliceologia,\ the chape of an 
Anglo-Saxon sword from Brighthampton, Oxford, is engraved. 
There are yellow ornaments like dogs looking backward, with 
cross lines at intervals near the top, like musical bars ; and a 
triangle at bottom, like the heraldic pile. Worsase figures 
some of a peculiar shape. The leather scabbard of a. bronze 
sword has its chape like a button, with spiral coils of wire for 
a few inches round the point of the scabbard. § In another 



* Carter, vol. ii. 

t Hudson's Monumental Brasses of 
Northamptonshire. 



% Vol. XXXVIII., p. 96. 
§ Afbildningcr, p. 26. 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 



307 



example, part of a very ornamental scabbard remains attached 
to an iron sword, the chape of which is like a Jew's harp 
inverted, the sword dropping between the forked bars. Chan- 
cer allndes to the chapes in his introduction to the Canterbury 
Tales— 

Hir knives were ycliaped not with bras, 
But all with silver, wrought ful clene and wel, 
Hir girdeles and hir pouches everydel. 
The ordinary form of an English sword-chape may be seen 
in the three specimens which follow. In the first, the point 



U 



N/ 



Rich. Ro'leston, 
.As -lover, 1007. 





3ir Jobn Cnraon, 
Kedleston Ciiuioh. 



Richard Kniveton, 

Muggingtou CbnicS 

14". 



is angular, and the form plain. In the second it is round, 
and the whole is decorated with pierced work, and shows 
an ornamental floreated top. In the third, there is an orna- 
mental knob at the extremity, and the sacred monogram 
I H C engraved on the chape. These are all from churches 
in Derbyshire. They present us with uniformity amid variety, 
such as we should suppose one locality likely to furnish. 

In the Royal Irish Academy there are several of these chapes, 
or ferrules, belonging to the bronze leaf-shaped swords. One is 
a small hollow capsule, almost of the shape of the Roman 

bronze purse in the Shrewsbury 
Museum, lathe example ■ h \\ n 
here, the points expand into a 
boat-like form; while in all of 
them the rivet holesare shewnby 
which it was attached to the wooden sheath In a third example, 
about half an inch deep, the narrow points stand out more 




Sword Chape, from Ireland. 



308 £AKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 

than an incli at each side ; and in the Assyrian swords, shown 
in LayarcVs Illustrations, the lions' heads on the chape project 
from the scabbard as far as the lions' heads which form the 
cross at the hilt. 

5. — Collaes. — Fig. 7. 

The collar was, no doubt, in use among the Celtic Britons, 
and it was extensively used by the people, especially of 
Ireland. Large numbers of collars, not only of bronze but 
of silver and gold, have also been found in various parts of- 
England and Scotland. Sometimes they were open at the ends, 
but a little expanded, like an African wrist bangle ; and, again, 
they were grooved, wreathed, twisted, and ornamented in 
various ways. The object which is represented by fig. 7 may 
have been part of such a collar as has been suggested ;* but, 
not unlikely, it is a fragment of a much more modern imple- 
ment. 

6. — Mending. — Fig. 10. 

It is evident that the more rare and valuable articles are, 
the more anxious will their owners be to preserve them per- 
fect, or to restore them ; so that it is not surprising that 

mended articles shouldbe found 
occasionally, or even frequently, 
among the objects of archaeo- 
logical examination. At Uri- 
conium are specimens of Ro- 
man pottery which have been 
repaired, and patching of bronze 
vessels is not unfrequent. One is 
engraved in the Archoeologia. f 
There was also a mended pail 
wooden rrinkingcup, with brass lip. found at Cuddesdon, iii Oxford- 
shire;! and a smaller bronze dish found at Long Wittenham, 
Berks,§ of date probably anterior to the Saxon arrival, was 

* A. W. P. X Akerman'a Pagan Saxomlom. 

t Vol. XXX., p, 132, § Arch., XXXVIII., 833. 




MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 



309 



■rudely mended. At Harnhani Hill, near Salisbury, an Anglo- 
Saxon wooden dish, covered with bronze, was found mended ; 
and at Sibertswold Down, in 1772, was discovered a curiously 
mended vessel. It was a small wooden bowl or drinking-cup, 
of about two inches and a half diameter at the rim or lip. 
It had not only a brass edging round the mouth, but had 
several little narrow bands of brass, which held this edging 
in its place, and reached about an inch and a quarter down 
the sides outside and in. Each 
had three small rivets passing 
through the sides of the vessel. 
There were also upwards of 
twenty other little pieces of 
brass, each about five-eighths 
of an inch long, riveted into 
the sides. As these lay in 
almost every position and 
direction, it is reasonable to 

infer that their pUrpOSe WaS Wooden Drinking-Cup, repaired. 

to mend certain cracks or deficiencies in the vessel. It is 
shown in the margin, and the figure at the head of the article 
will serve to give an idea of the original. John de Garlande 
tells us that the menders of cups call out that they can 
repair them with a brazen and silver thread. Such cups were 
made of maple, plane-tree, box, asp, &c* In the ShvUkirorfli 
Accounts we read, under date December, 1583, — 

Nayles aiiJ letlier for amcndinge of the armor*, V. 

In the Eoyal Irish Academy there is a large circular brass 
vessel, hammered out of a single piece, which has been rudely 
patched on one side.f In the grave of a man at Kingston 
Down were found six little brass clasps, with wood adhering 




i, * Reparatores ciphorum exclamant 
ciphos reparandos cum filo erco et 
.argenteo. Ciphos autem reparant, de 
murinis (" masers"),et planis,ct brucis 



("warrys" oj box),deacere i "mapyl") 
et trcnmlo ("haspe") — Mayaft \\>- 
cabulary, 1 20. 
+ Wilde's Catalogue, 541. 



310 



PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 



to their points. One of them is shown here, and its form is sg 
like that of the clasps which a travelling tinker employs to 
mend tl^e wooden bowl of a farmer or cottager, that we 
may reasonably suppose it to be an object for 

the same purpose. In < ZZA a woman's grave in 

Kent was found a small ^ *** piece of an ivory 

comb, that had been Ciasp for Wooden Vessel - mended with a slip 
of brass.* Fig. 10, Plate XXIX., is obviously a thin copper 
patch which had been applied to some large vessel. 

7. — Chatellaines. — Figs. 11, 12, 13, 14. 
In the ancient graves of France, Germany, and England, it 
has often happened that small objects, in imitation of useful 
ones, are found — analogous to the "baby celts" of Ireland, 
the doll-like scissors of Germany, and others equally minute. 
Along with these are 
found objects natu- 
rally small, like pins, 
needles, ear-picks, 
&c. ; and, from having 
lain long in the earth, 
they are usually 
found rusted and 
fused into one in- 
separable mass. Dr. 
Mortimer found seve- 
ral of these at Char- 
tham Down, in Kent ; 
and the representa- 
tions of two of his 
bunches are given 
1 i ere. He says, " There 
is one piece exactly 
like the others, except 




Chatellaines, or Pendants. 



• Invent. Bep., p■''>".. , • 



MISCELLANEOUS ARTICLES. 311 

that, instead of ending in a point, it ends in a cross ; and such 
another was found in a lump of several of them, cemented to- 
gether by the rust of some adjacent iron." 

To this the Eev. Bryan Faussett appends the remark, " I have 
found many such ; and, from frequent and careful observation, 
I have, long since, plainly discovered that they used to be hung 
in clusters, as it were, to the ends of small iron chains, which 
were fixed to the women's waists, pretty much in the same 
manner as scissors, &c, are now-a-days worn. They seem to 
liave served for many different uses, such as ear-pickers, tooth- 
pickers, bodkins, nail-parers, &c. These are never found in 
men's graves." 

Objects of this kind are found only in the graves of women; 
and these remains occur usually about the knees, with traces of 
corroded chain from the waist to that point. It is clear 
therefore, that they depended like the chatellaines of our own 
days, or like bunches of small keys. They are described in 
the Collectanea Antigua, Yol. II. ; they are frequently alluded 
to in the Inventorium Sepulchrale ; and, on Plate X. in that 
volume, a very beautiful one is figured complete, and fragments 
of six or seven others. An object used for a similar purpose, 
but very different in shape from the English forms, is figured 
by the Abbe Cocliet* Several of the small objects, too, 
engraved by M. Troyon, have evidently been pendants of an 
ornamental character from the girdle.-J* 

It is believed that all the four objects, figs. 11, 12, 13, and 
14, have been connected with chatellaines. The forms of 
chain were very different, just as in our own day; and in 
some instances, no doubt, mere cords were employed Annexed 
is a link of a chain from a Saxon grave. 
=0) Fig. 12, like the beam belonging to a 
small pair of scales, is precisely the sort 



Link of a Cliain. 



of object at which such tarings were suspended, a group at 

*La Normandie Soutcrraiue, EL I t BahitatiQXlfifl Lani^rcs, PL ii n 
ami., p. 417. I figs. 14, 15, lfi. 



312 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

either end. An object like fig. 13 was at first supposed to be 
the tongue of a small bell, and is alluded to in p. 264; but, 
from its exact resemblance to small hammers found by 
Faussett, it was much more probably pendent from the girdle. 
Fig. 14 is evidently an ornamental tassel of metal of some 
kind, and it probably served this purpose. I have seen some 
pretty imitations of these in iron-work of our own, day. 

(9.) Plate XXIX., fig. 4, has been alluded to in p. 169 ; 
under the head of Spurs. 

(10.) Fig. 6 has been alluded to in p. 151 ; under the head 
of Bosses and Studs. 

(11.) Fig. 8 has been a large ring, flat on the under side, 
and bevelled on the upper; the bevel, or chamfer, sloping 
more gradually to the outer circumference than to the inner. 

(12.) The object of fig. 9 is unknown. It is not unlike the 
bottom of the iron frame in which a tall bottle of Eau de 
Cologne is placed. 

(13.) Fig. 15 probably represents a portion of horse furni- 
ture * in which there has been great display. 



XXXIII.— STONE IMPLEMENTS.— Plate XXX. 

1. — Small Stone Objects. 
Among the stone objects found on the seashore was one, 
fig. 1, slightly orange-shaped, or an oblate spheroid. A hole 
penetrated through it in the line of its 
axis ; but the two outer sides of the hole 
were very much funnel-shaped. Stones 
of this kind are frequently found in Ire- 
land, but of a hard material, whereas 
this appeared to be only of sandstone. In 
x. t w, d -m oi FiiMi-stone, some the actual hole in the middle is not 

Olie ID 111 111 BvtllBi ' 

half the width of it at the outer sides, so that it appears to 
have been piereed by a conical boring instrument Several 

* A.W.F. 




STONE IMPLEMENTS. 313 

examples of stones of this kind are given in Wilde's 
Catalogue of the Koyal Irish Academy, pages 94 and 95. In 
some instances the hole did not pass quite through ; and it 
has been suggested, with a deal of probability, that such stones 
formed the pivot to the two axes between the upper and lower 
quern stones. What gives plausibility to the idea is, that 
frequently the two holes on opposite sides of one of these 
stones are eccentric to each other, or not in the same direct 
line. 

Perforated stones were used for other purposes. They 
served for suspension about the person, like the lucky-stone 
of a modern Lancashire farmer ; and sometimes they were 
used as plummets or weights, as they still 
are at the loom of a rustic weaver. Figs. 2, 
3, and 5, may have been of this kind. The 
American Indians use them for net-sinkers, 
knife-handles, whet-stones, &c* The Eev. 
Cotton Mather says that the Indians, in 
the time of the early settlers, employed Net sinker 

them for tools.t They also served the purpose of sling stones, 
or stones for projection by some other means. In Worsase's 
Afbildninger, page 9, two of these stones are engraved ; and 
on page 10 there are three celts or chisels of stone, each with 
a perforation at top. In Layard's Illustrations of Nineveh, 
parties in a besieged castle are represented as hurling stones 
by the hand. These are egg-shaped rather than globular ; 
but the stones which are pictured as projected from English 
staff slings and cord slings are globular. Robert of Glou- 
cester, writing of the period of William Paifus, J says : — 

Hyt thoglite that al the eyr above vol was of cry anon, 
And that we ne myghte noght yse bote harewen ami Hone, 
And stones out of lutheren,§ and of magnales al so. 

There is a Greek sling stone or bullet figured in the Arcliceor 

* Schoolcraft IV., 175, 490. X Ilcarne II., p. 394. 

t Ibid., I., 284. I § Slingfl of leather. 




314 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 




riommet-stone. 




%?>,.* It is egg-shaped, with the smaller end coming to a 
point, and letters stand out upon it in relief* 
It is difficult to assign uses to the three which 
are here represented in woodcuts ; but if the 
first were not a nail-stone,f used in Irish war- 
fare, they were probably all plummets or 
sinkers. The originals are in the Eoyal 
Irish Academy's collection. Fig. 4 is a small 
peak of jet ; and fig. 6 is stone, but its object 
is unknown. 

In Mr. Ainslie's collection is an implement of hard grey 
stone, about three inches 
long, which he called a 
" celt," but which is very 
unlike the ordinary im- 
plements called by that smoo^gstone. 
name. A similar implement is engraved by SchooVraft (II., 
PL 1.) of which he says, " we may conjecture that its use was 
sempstresscal, and that it was designed for smoothing down 
seams of buckskin." J 

The object, Plate XXX., fig. 3, bears considerable resemblauce 
to a perforated celt in the collection of the Eoyal Irish 
Academy : § but both are different from the almond-shaped 
implements which are called by that name, and are well 
known. There were various modes of mounting these for 
actual use, and two examples of the modes of fixing the com- 
mon stone celt in its handle have come to light. One was 
discovered near Cookstown, in the county of Tyrone, Ireland ; || 
and the other in the Solway Moss, in the south-west of 
Scotland. ** The latter is shown here. 



•XXX LI., p. 9G. 

f There is one preserved in the 
State collection at Albany, New York, 
and called a " war club." This is 
supposed to be correct. 

$ Schoolcraft, II., 90. 



§ Wilde's Catalogue, p. 44. 

|| Ardueologieal Journal, IV., 3; 
"VVorsaars Piimev. Antiq., p. 12. 

** Proceedings of the Soc. Antiq., 
IV., 112. 



uk. 




X. S/Z£ 




/a. S/Z£. 




•& S/Z£. 



r ORD R HUMES HOYLAKE.ANT. 



JE.WORRALL,UTri. 



CURIOUS IMPLEMENTS,- STONE & WOOD. 



STONE IMPLEMENTS. 315 



Celt, with handle, from Solway Moss. 

No handle, or wooden mounting of any celt, lias been found 
in Denmark, 

2. — Queens. 

Among the miscellaneous objects discovered near the site 
of ancient Meols is a circular stone, with a perforation at the 
top ; supposed to have formed pact of an ancient quern. 
The upper and lower stones were known to the ancients 
respectively as the rider and ass; and this is part of the 
upper one, or rider ; that is to say, the one which was made to 
revolve. 

In these days, when steam has almost superseded the 
ancient picturesque wind-mills and water-mills, we find some 
difficulty in looking back to a period anterior to either of 
these latter, when grain was made into meal and flour by the 
hand, and the whole mill apparatus could be lifted and placed 
on a table. Hand-mills of this kind have been used at various 
times from east to west of the whole old continent ; and they 
are still in use in the eastern countries, affording a permanent 
illustration of numerous scriptural and classic allusions. In 
the mountainous districts of Wales, Ireland, and Scotland, 
they may yet be seen occasionally in use, though in general 
a perfect quern is rare. Only one stone ccmmonly exists, the 
other having been broken by the influence of the modern 
miller, in order literally " to draw grist to his mill." The 
township of Quernmore, near Lancaster, is supposed to have 
been so named from the manufacture of querns, or hand-mill 



316 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



stones, at its quarries; and there were no doubt others at 
many parts of our north-western district. A large and beauti- 
ful Saxon quern was uncovered at Pimbo Lane, near "Wigan, 
in the construction of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Eailway; 
and others, British, Eoman, and medieval, are not uncommon. 
In the Eoman villa at Walesby, near Market Easen, several 
portions of quern stones were discovered, the general character 
of which may be seen in the accompanying cut. These are, 

no doubt, of much the 
same kind as those which 
were turned by the maid- 
servants of ancient 
Egypt, *■ or by Samson 
m . . when a captive ot the 

Koman Quern-stones, Walesby. -L 

Philistines.t In the larger querns, as in the mill stones of 
modern times, a piece of iron is inserted with claws at the 
extremities, and a square hole for the axis in the centre. This 
is called the mill-rind, from which the cross moline is 
derived, constituting the canting arms of Molyneux. Some- 
times a wooden lid or cover was attached to the upper stone, 
and, by means of projecting bars, a greater leverage was obtained 
in turning either by cords or otherwise. There is one of these 





mill-timbers in the Eoyal Irish Academy, a representation of 
which is given here. 

Simple as the quern is, it is a great advancement upon the 



* Exodus xi. 5. From the first- 
born of Pharaoh that sitteth upon his 
throne, even unto the first-horn of 
the maid-servant that is behind the 
mill. 

t Judge* xvi. 21. Samson did 



grind in his prison-house. 

In the Monkes Tale, this is ex- 
pressed by Chaucer as follows — 

WhertU tiny in:i<ie him :il llio querni (Trind, 
O: uobil Sampson, stiongost of mankind. 



STONE IMPLEMENTS. 



317 



processes in use in savage lands. Thus the native of the 
interior of Australia pounds the nardoo seeds between two 
stones, and the Digger Indians of the Bocky Mountains, as well 
as others of a low grade in the region of California, procure 
a specimen of vegetable food in nearly the same way. With 
great toil and patience they gather the grass-seeds in their 
neighbourhood, and then pound them between two stones. 
The natives of New Mexico use the triturating stone or grain 
rubber, which is also known on the west coast of Africa. It 
was in use in Ireland and Scotland at an early period, and no 
doubt in England also. One in my own possession, like that 

shown on the annexed 
cut, is somewhat hollow 
in the centre, and of a 
very rough grit. The 
grain was rubbed upon 
it by a roundish stone, 
painter grinding his paints. 
The specimen shown in the woodcut has a hole in the side, to 
permit the egress of the meal ; but this must be regarded as a 
marked advance upon the ordinary triturating stone. In a 
paper which I read in 1848,* numerous quotations were given 
from our old English literature, in which the quern is alluded 
to by name ; but it may be sufficient here to give Wicliff's 
version of a well-known passage of scripture : — 

Tweine wymraen schulen ben gryndynge in o querne, oon schal be 
taken and the tother lefte.t 

Mr. Beamont remarks, in connexion with the Domesday 
Swvey for Lancashire and Cheshire : — 

"The miller, before querns were obsolete, represented one step in the 
progress of society. Only one miller is mentioned in this district, 
though there were already several mills, and the number was increasing." 




Triturating Stones, 

somewhat after the manner of 



* Transactions of the Historic 
Society of Lane, and Chcsh., 1. 33. 



f Matt. viii. 32. 



318 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



XXXIV.— COMBS.— Plate XXX. 

1. Introduction. — Among the earliest combs with, which 
we are acquainted are those of Egypt; and those of Eoman 
manufacture, which are discovered from time to time in this 
country. Two bone ones were found at Uriconium, and, from 
the size of the teeth, it would appear 
that they were employed in a manner 
similar to our own. One of them is highly 
ornamented ; and the slip of bone in which 
the teeth are cut, appears to be inserted 
between two others, which form the back, 
and give it strength. A Greek triangular 
comb, carved in bone, was found at Pom- 
peii ; and a Eoman comb, found near 
Coblentz, has Venus and the graces carved 
on opposite sides.* Other ancient combs 
are occasionally found in barrows, British 
and Saxon. Some are of a single piece, 
the teeth being on both sides. Occasion- 
ally they are on one side only; a thick 
and strong material being fastened on with 
rivets, for the purpose of strengthening the 
back. One of bone, 6} inches long, of 
|| somewhat unusual form, was found in the 
Thames, near Eunnymede.f It is shown 
here. 

2. Uses. — As none of these were suited 
for wearing in the hair, their obvious pur- 
Bone comb, ;n>aituc Thane-,. p se was to trim and dress it ; and a? in 
women " the hair was given for a covering," the comb was par- 
ticularly useful. It would appear that in the days of our 
ancestors, maidens wore the hair long, while matrons had it 
tucked up. Tims, in the old ballad of Fair Annie— 




* Proceedings S. A., Ill,, 54. 



f Ibid, 1V. ; 1S8. 



COMBS, 319 

She lias to her coffer gane, 

Ta'en out her silver kame ; 
And she has kamed down her yellow hair, 
As she a maid had been. 
The rule, though general, was not without exceptions; for 
Dunbar says in his poem, " The twa Mariit Wemen and the 
Wedo, v — 

Kemmit was thair cleir hair, and curiouslie sched 
Attour thair sehonlderis down. 
"We may also see from Chaucer that the use of the comb was 
tloz coiiimed to women, and the same facts are noticed in other 
portions of our literature — 

He waketh all the night and all the day, 

He kembeth his lockes brode, and made him gay. 

Milleres Tale. 
She kissed his cheek, she kaimed his hair, 

As oft she had done before, O ; 
She beltit him with his noble brand, 
And he's awa' to Yarrow. 

0. B., Dowie Dens o' Yarrow. 
l r vom numerous allusions, it is clear that the comb was an 
important instrument ;* and it would appear that gentlemen 
used it even in public, to dress their large nowi?ig wigs.f 
In the Special Exhibition of Works of Art at South Ken- 
sington, there was a coarse Turkish comb used for re<mlat.in£ 
the beard ; and no doubt a similar instrument will soon be 
required among ourselves. The practice of retaining the hair 
in its place by means of combs, appears to have been in use 
among the ladies of Scotland in the close of the thirteenth 
century ; for it is mentioned in the old ballad of Sir Patrick 
BpsmSf which refers to that period — 

And lang, lang may the maidens sit, 
"WT their gowd kames in their hair, 
A' waiting for their ain dear loves, 
For them they'll see nae mair. 

* See quotations from the old plays, | f Fuirholt's Costume, 583. 
Lingua and The Four PP., pp. 81, 231, 



320 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



Probably these were small combs, if "they were, as the poet 
describes, actually of gold. One may contrast with this a 
local fashion of the present age. About thirty years ago, 
combs were worn at Buenos Ayres three feet wide ; not only i 
covering the whole back of the head, but forming a large 
semicircle with wings. They were jocularly known as "chair- 
back " combs ; and, -though made only of tortoise-shell pieced, 
frequently cost £20. At length government interfered, and 
their use was discontinued. 

There is a very curious object in my own possession. A slip 
of tortoise-shell, about two inches long, and half an inch broad, 
is bent forward at its two extremities. To the one a pin is at- 
tached by a metal hinge, and at the other is an arrangement for 
fastening the point of the pin ; so that the object is a perfect 
fibula. But the curious fact is, that the pin is also of tortoise- 
shell, about one-eighth of an inch in breadth, and that its 
inner side is pectinated, forming a delicate little comb. It 
was used about 1780 to retain the curls of ladies in their 
places ; it was more useful than curl-papers, and less unseemly. 

Curry-combs and mane-combs were in use for horses at 
various dates. From the Shuttlcworlh Accounts we learn their 
value in 1616 : — 



A single curry e combe 
A duble 



- vj< 

- xviij d 
v j d 



A maine combe and a sponge 
Another, without a sponge - - iiij d 

The wool-comb was a well-known implement of female * 
industry ; and Lucretia is represented as using it when 
suddenly waited upon by her husband and his friends.*)" The 



* The use of the mediaeval English 
term Kemb-ster, which is still pre- 
served in Scotland, shows that comb- 
ing was a female employment ; for 
ster is a feminine termination, as in 
web-ster, malt-s/t'/-, back-s/cr, liuck- 
ster, spin-ster. 



t Then up the street Virginia turned, ami as she 

danced along, 
She warbled gaily to herself, lines of the good old 

song ; 
How for a sport the princes came, spurring from 

the camp, 
And found Lncrece, combing the fleece, under tho 

midnight lamp, 

U u u lay . — L iy» o/Anc. Rome. 



COMBS. 



321 



existence of a comb on monumental slabs is said to indicate 
that a wool-comber sleeps* below ;* but at Iona, the mirror 
and comb on the slab of the Princess Anna, the last prioress 
1511, is merely an indication of sex, after the manner of Greek 
and Eoman art.f The arms of Tunstall, of Yorkshire, consist of 
three combs, as it is said that one of their ancestors was barber 
to William the Conqueror. J Some peculiar uses of the comb 
are mentioned. Thus, it is noticed in the old ballad of 
Lambert Linkin as a toy to please a child ;§ and at a pin 
manufactory, the girls who insert the pins in paper reduce 
the full of an apron or basket to order, by lifting them with 
a comb. || 

3. Material. Combs of wood were common, but many of 
them have perished. Ladies' combs were frequently made of 
boxwood, and were cheaper than those of 
ivory, or other costly material. In 1621 
" a box combe " cost 18s., while a few 

ndays afterwards " a veale and a mutton " 
\ together cost only 16s.** The combs used 
by the American Indians are generally of 
wood ; and sometimes the forms are 
pleasing. They are used not only in 
dressing the hair of the living, but in 
reducing to order the scalp-locks of slain 
warriors, while the scalps are under- 
going the preparatory processes, to fit 
them for decorating the person of the 
| slayer.ff 
mdian comb, for scaip-iocks. Combs of bone and ivory, though rarer 
when manufactured, are more frequently found at present. 





n 



(i 



* Cutts's Manual, p. 42. 
t Blackie's Guide, p. 65. 
I Glossary of Heraldry. 

§ O still my babe, nourice, 
Still lum wi' the kaDM i 
He'll no be still, lady. 
Till his daddy come hame. 

Motherwell, p. 221. 



|| Tomlinson's Accountof theManu- 
facture of a Tin. 

** Sliuttleworth Accounts, pp. 250, 
251. 

ft Schoolcruft, III., 468, PL xxxv. 



322 PAKT II. — THE OBJECTS. 

One was discovered at Barrow Furlong, in Northamptonshire, 
among Saxon remains; and is engraved in the Archceologia, VoL 
XXXIII., Plate xiii. It is of bone, and has two rows of teeth, 
with a strong band down the centre. This and the ends are 
ornamented by small circles ; and the whole is fastened by iron 
rivets. The Abbe Cochet mentions combs both of bone and 
bronze ; and he has no doubt that in certain cases they were 
borne in a purse or gypciere. They have been found at 
several places, usually, but not always, with teeth on both 
sides, and with strengthening bars down the centre, attached 
by iron pins. In some cases, as at Selzen, near Mayence, the 
comb has been found in a vessel at the feet of the warrior.' 54 ' 
One has been found by the skeleton of a woman near the 
bones of the thigh, and another near the buckle of the girdle ; 
both of which were probably suspended from the waist. A 
bronze comb was found in an urn at East Kilbride, in Scot- 
land ;t and in one of the ancient habitations of Orkney there 
was a very curious one of bone, which bears a rude resem- 
blance to a hand with nine equal fingers. J A similar object 
was found on the Cheshire shore several years ago, but appears 
not to have been preserved. It was supposed to be a toy. 

The comb, especially when the material was bone, was often 
made in fragments, from half an inch to an inch long ; and 
these were inserted side by side between two plates. § A few 
broken teeth could therefore be supplied by merely replacing 
the portion to which they belonged ; and the whole was not 
destroyed. The injury was local, like the breaking in of one 
water-tight compartment of a ship. The accompanying en- 
graving is from a bone rack-comb, in the possession of the 
Royal Irish Academy, restored and completed from a fragment. 

It will be observed that the pectinated portion rises above 
the hog-back sides at the centre and ends ; and, also, that it 



* La Norm. Soutcrraine, 254, 255. 
t Wilson, p. 300. 
X Ibid., p. 424. 



§ Guide to Northern Archaeology, 
Ellcsincre, p. 56. 



COMBS. 



323 




BMUm 



Irish Rack-comb— Bone. 



is made in twelve sections. It is about ten inches long. In 
the temporary museum at South Kensington, there were very- 
curious examples of combs exhibited by H. W. Sass, Esq., John 
Webb, Esq., and the Messrs. Farrer. One of shell, belonging 
to Mr. Webb, has a knob like a pea at the end of each of the 
teeth. 

There are numerous allusions to the comb in our old Eng- 
lish literature. In the ancient ballad of Annie, d Lochryan, 
she speaks of dressing her hair " wi' a new-made siller kame;" 
but as the mast of her boat was of gold and the sails of silk, 
while the timbers were covered with bells and pearls,* it is 
probable that the comb owed its costly material to the imagi- 
nation of the minstrel. In that of Sweet William and Fair 
Margaret, the latter is represented more naturally as combing 
her hair with an ivory comb.-f- In the Inventorium Sepul- 
chrale, two elegant examples are engraved, of double combs of 
bone or ivory, each of which has two sheaths of the same 
material to cover the teeth, one at each side. The form alone 
is preserved ; as unfortunately both crumbled to pieces. One 
is engraved here. 
This fact serves to 
indicate the degree of 
care with which the 
comb was preserved. 
In the quotation 
already given from 
the ballad of Fair 




Double comb, with sheaths. 



Annie, she is represented as taking the comb out of a coffer 
in which it was usually preserved. 



* Minstrelsy of the Border, II. 
426. Chambers's Ballads, p. 227. 



f Percy's Reliqucs, III., 166. 



324 



PART IL— THE OBJECTS. 



XXXV.— POTTERY, GLASS, AND ENAMEL.* 

Plate XXXI. 

1. — Introduction. 

The Potter's art is one of the most ancient of handicrafts ; it 
is alluded to in the first book of Chronicles, chap. iv. verse 3. 

In Greece and Etruria this art flourished supremely, and 
the specimens extant, mainly designed as prizes for the victors 
in the most renowned games and combats of the age, attest at 
once the patience, skill, and taste of their manipulators. 

Under the sway of imperial Eome, Grecian artists long con- 
tinued to be employed not only as manufacturers, but teachers 
of the arts, wherever the conquering sword of the mistress of 
the world opened a way, often into regions hitherto all but 
unknown to commerce, science, or civilization. Even Britain, 
the Ultima Thule of the era, received no small share of such 
attention; indeed it would appear, considering its distance 
from the grand seat of empire, to have been a singularly 
favoured province, as is fairly evidenced in the numerous 
works of public utility constructed by the state, as military 
roads, bridges, temples, and other erections ; whilst the magni- 
ficence and extent of the private villas — such for instance as 
the one at Woodchester, in Gloucestershire, and that near. 
Bignor, in Sussex — sufficiently exemplify the wealth and high 
social position of their proprietors. 

The ceramic art was equally extended with others, and 
Romano-British potteries arose, wherever the best clays were 
discovered abundantly. Whole kilns have been disclosed in 
Yorkshire and Northamptonshire ; f and immense quantities 
of half or partially dried and broken crockery in the marshes 
of the Medway, near Upchurch, and also upon the banks of 
the Severn, prove the former existence of extensive potteries 
in these localities. Wherever existent, the site of every 
Roman villa, military station, or fortified town, will, upon 



* This article is written by Mr. 
Smith, my own remarks being in- 
dicated as before. 



t Vide the Dnrobriva) of Antoni- 
nus ; illustrated by the late E. T. 
Artis, fo., London, IS23. 



POTTERY, GLASS, AND ENAMEL. 325 

examination, be found replete with debris of crockery and 
tiles, the multifarious fragments of which "cumber the 
ground," often to a depth of from twelve to fourteen feet, in 
proportion to the amount of subsequent occupation. Three- 
fourths of this mass of disjecta membra will prove, in the 
average of such localities, to have been the produce of this 
country, made doubtlessly under the active superintendence of 
skilled artificers from Italy, Spain, or southern France, each 
of these countries being contemporaneously famed for some 
particular description of plastic ware. Under ordinary cir- 
cumstances, therefore, we should anticipate the existence of 
similar remains at this settlement on the Cheshire shore; but 
the total removal of its very site (analogous instances having 
occurred at Flamborough Head, Yorkshire, and at the Eecul- 
vers, Kent, the latter within the remembrance of living men), 
sufficiently accounts for the slight appearance of pottery of 
this era. Some fragments of dark slate-coloured ware, and 
probably of sepulchral urns, are apparently all we have to 
note. Centuries ago, the pottery, together with remains of 
any permanent buildings, must have been washed away into 
what are now underlying strata of the submerged sand-banks, 
which are very unlikely to be disturbed except by great 
change in the channel ; the gradual but certain subsidence of 
this coast forbidding the hope of any reclamation of the sand 
flats to seaward. 

2. — Glass and Enamel. 
A few small objects in glass and enamel, of similar date, 
require notice here. They would seem to have been lost from 
the person in the glades of the forest, and are washed out of 
the remaining vegetable accretion by the tides, comprising 
enamelled ornaments of brooches, etc., with beads, and heads 
of bronze pins in glass. A fine bead recently found (see 
woodcut, p. 162), in common with others analogous in com- 
position, size, and form, excavated by Bryan Faussett and 
others from ancient cemeteries in Kent, is believed to be of 



326 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

Eoman manufacture. These large beads appear to have been 
highly prized by our Saxon forefathers, who used them as 
gauds or central beads (one to three in number) of their neck- 
laces, the others being chiefly of small size and generally 
uniform in character. Our Hilbre Island example was thrown 
to the surface by a rabbit which had selected for its burrow a 
portion of the site of the old burying-ground attached to the 
religious Gelle of monks (connected with the Abbey of St. 
Werburg in Chester), where also part of a Saxon sepulchral 
cross was uncovered a few years ago.* Possibly a thorough 
investigation of the locality might result in the disclosure of 
other interesting remains, and it is worthy of note that all the 
antiquities occurring here, of which we have any knowledge, 
prove to be of early date. The glass composing the bead is 
of a beautiful cobalt-blue and transparent; the enamels, which 
are opaque, consist of a vein or marbling of yellow, intertwined 
by a thread of green, the effect of the combination being very 
good. Vitreous compositions are known to have been in 
common use in ancient Egypt and Etruria, and remarkably 
line examples, from Thebes and other cities, may be seen in 
the National Collection, as well as in Mr. Mayer's valuable 
Egyptian and General Museum, Colquitt Street, Liverpool. 

Undoubtedly the earliest specimens of enamel found in 
Cheshire are those ornamenting Eoman brooches of the first, 
second, and third centuries, several of which are represented, 
(Plate III.,) together with the bead just mentioned. Their pre- 
vailing colours are blue, brown, scarlet, crimson, and green, 
the two last having often apparently faded into maroon and 
olive ; white and lemon-yellow have also been noticed. At lea st- 
one-half — an unusually large proportion — of the fibula?, of this 
period have been thus ornamented; but most have suffered from 
decomposition, and possibly in colour, from the dyeing pro- 
perties of the decaying vegetable matter in which they have 
been imbedded for from twelve to fifteen hundred years. It 

* Sec woodcut, p. 2G7 ; there is evidence that it was " sepulchral." — A. II. 



POTTERY, GLASS, AND ENAMEL. 327 

may, nevertheless, be doubted whether any locality in Eng- 
land has produced a larger number retaining so perfectly this 
coloured decoration. In this country, fine examples are of 
rare occurrence. From recent investigations, it appears that 
most if not all the substances now employed in the manufac- 
ture of coloured glazes or enamel, were known to and used by 
the ancients, as quartz, flint, felspar, gypsum (sulphate of 
lime), borax, common salt, potash, soda, oxide of lead, etc. The 
chief colours were produced by admixture of these materials 
with oxide of manganese, copper, iron, chromium or cobalt. 

Glass. — The beads and heads of metal pins in glass are 
generally of a globular form. Two specimens are, however, 
cylindrical; such were cut from an elongated tube-shaped body, 
which could thus be divided to suit the taste of purchasers. 
Their greenish-blue colour was probably imparted by copper or 
chromium ; whilst their opacity results from the use of oxide 
of tin, or phosphate of lime. They appertain to the Saxon 
era, to which may also be referred fragments of yellowish 
semi-transparent glass, which have evidently belonged to 
some specimen of the remarkable glass drinking-cups of the 
period, whose superfluity of pendent ornamentation constitute 
a distinguishing feature * Of the English period, the Cheshire 



* The Tessels alluded to by Mr. 
Smith are shown in the following 
specimens, from different parts of 
England and from the Continent. 



The Saxon glass was frequently- 
characterized by a thread or band 
wound round the exterior of the 
cups. — A. H. 




noai Ttecnlver, 
Kent. 



Selzen, Germany 



Irairford, 
tenulre. 



The valley <r tie Er.ulne, 
FnuM 



328 PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 

shore has, we believe, produced no specimen of glass earlier 
than the age of Elizabeth, of which occurs a bottle for oil, 
wide at the base but sharply tapering into a confined neck. 
It stands about seven inches high, the body being of consider- 
able thickness, and of an olive-green colour. 

3. — Medleval Domestic Chockeey. 

Despite repeated attempts, but little has been evoked to 
enlighten even the antiquarian public, relative to the ceramic 
products of our country, during the lengthened period extend- 
ing from the fourth to the fifteenth century. The main facts 
mentioned below have been garnered from three sources ; viz., 
the recent beautiful edition of Mr. Jos. Marryatt's comprehen- 
sive and valuable History of Pottery and Porcelain, the very- 
useful Catalogue of Specimens in the Museum of Economic 
Geology at London, by the late Sir Henry De la Beche and 
Mr. Weeks ; and lastly, a paper especially upon Mediseval 
earthenware, by Mr. Chaffers, which appears in the fifth 
volume of the Journal of the Archaeological Association, the 
writer of which had the advantage of possessing the largest 
collection in England, almost entirely procured by himself 
from the substrata of London. The best specimens are now 
to be met with in the National Museum of Economic Geology; 
but Mr. Mayer possesses many characteristic examples in bis 
invaluable ceramic hoards at Liverpool. 

Mr. Boutell* states : " Pottery in use in our country may 
probably have been manufactured at home; we have not, 
however, discovered any authentic sources of information upon 
the subject. One thing is certain, that we are in possession 
of no such relics of the pottery of the centuries that intervene 
between the conquest and the reformation, as would enable us 
to deduce from them any distinct and definite information, 
with respect to ceramic manufactures, during this period. At 
the same time, we know that inlaid and glazed pavement tiles 
were both used and made in England; and we have abundant 

* Ilund-book of Archaeology, 1859. 




FOR D« HUMF'S HOYLAKE, ANT 



POTTERY AND PIPES 



POTTERY, GLASS, AND ENAMEL. 329 

evidence to show that they were produced in great numbers, 
and with admirable skill." 

Mr. Marry att more confidently reports the result of careful 
investigation — 

fl Though vessels of early pottery do not very frequently 
occur, still a sufficient number of specimens have been found 
to give us a very fair idea of its general character. They are 
chiefly formed of coarse and somewhat brittle ware, rendered 
capable of containing liquids by being covered with a green 
or dark yellow glaze. Should the workman wish to produce 
a bright and light-coloured green, he coated the vessel with 
a thin wash of pipeclay ; or, to relieve the monotony of the 
surface, he made rude scrolls and flourishes in white, after- 
wards covered with the yellow glaze, or he moulded on the 
body small ornaments in relief. 

" A very interesting discovery at Lincoln, in the parish of 
St. Mary le Wigford, revealed some of the Terra-cotta Moulds 
which had been employed by a potter of the fourteenth cen- 
tury. They were found with numerous fragments near the 
remains of a kiln, and are, as far as we are aware, the only 
specimens of the kind that have been discovered. From the 
head-dresses represented upon them, they evidently belong to 
the reign of Edward III. The mode in which these heads 
were applied, is shown by a fragment found with them, which 
is preserved, together with the moulds, in the collection of 
Mr. Arthur Trollope of Lincoln. 

" The larger portion of the mediaeval vessels that have been 
found, consists of jugs; many of these have been discovered 
in the city of London, and a large series of various shapes and 
forms is in the British Museum. These vessels are occasion- 
ally very tall and slender. Some of the earlier specimens are 
indented round their base, as if with the potter's thumb. The 
use of lead glaze for vessels was continued down to a late 
period. It was chiefly applied to coarse ware, and was made 
probably all in England, as the transport of articles so small 
in value, and so large in bulk,* would not be remunerative, 
especially at a time when the means of conveyance were not 
so attainable as they now are."*f* 

" However difficult it may be to feel assured of the pottery 
used in Britain much anterior to the Norman conquest, 
certain earthenware vessels have been discovered in situations. 



Vide PI. XXXI., figs. 8, 9, 10. | f Hist. Brit Pottery, p. 137—140. 



330 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

and under circumstances, pointing to their use in tins country 
for ordinary and domestic wants in the times commonly 
termed mediaeval. The earliest examples are commonly of 
inelegant forms.* Now and then a specimen may present 
somewhat of the designs of better periods; but almost all 
those which may be considered as of British manufacture 
usually offer little that could be termed tasteful. At the 
same time, ordinary pitchers and cups seem to have been 
employed at the tables of more important persons than might 
have been supposed, and were even thought worthy of notice 
in inventories of royal households, as that of Edward IY., vide 
Liber Mger,f p. 78." 

Summing up the information supplied above, we find that 
of our national fictile produce, from the fourth to the 
twelfth century, few specimens are known to exist, whilst 
of the succeeding centuries, the only articles of domestic 
crockery manufactured were varieties, in point of shape, of 
the common jug and drinking-cup. These were generally 
of inelegant form, and destitute of ornament, almost univer- 
sally of the coarsest material, and rarely found at the 
present day in a perfect state. Dishes and plates, among 
other modern forms now indispensable, would seem to have 
been unknown in this country until introduced from the 
continent in the fourteenth century, and their manufacture in 
this country consequently dates from a still later period. The 
specimens of pottery found upon the Cheshire shore, apparently 
all belong to the Norman and mediseval class. Unfortunately 
they exist in a very fragmentary state, as might be expected 
from long-continued habitation and tillage of the artificial soil 
in which they were mostly imbedded. The only piece toler- 
ably perfect is the slenderly formed little pitcher, standing 
eight inches high, of a brownish slate-coloured ware. J It 
closely resembles an example found in London, and preserved 
in the Museum of Practical Geology. This most useful 



* Vide Mr. Chaffers'a Specimens and 
Illustrations from Norman MSS., pre- 
viously alluded to. 



t DclaBcche and Wceks's "Cata- 
logue," p. 106. 

X PL XXXI., &g. 7. 



[ 



POTTERY, GLASS, AND ENAMEL. 



66 



collection, we have already stated, possesses the best collection 
of English mediaeval crockery ; but we believe that our frag- 
ments present a much greater variety of qualities, if not shapes 
of ware, some having been glazed, and others shewing the 
application of pigments inside or outside, and occasionally 
upon both surfaces. Again, several of our jug-handles present 
a novelty in their rude decoration ; viz., slashed patterns, an 
ornamentation much in vogue at this period, as well as later. 
It occurs in various designs upon both round and flattened 
handles, though more deeply incised in the latter, which have 
evidently belonged to pitchers of a large size, but does not 
appear upon other portions of such vessels which may safely 
be referred to from the twelfth to the sixteenth century; mdz 
Plate XXXI., figs. 5, 8, and 10. Tig. 9 represents part of a 
large crock, the peculiar streaked or digitated bands of which 
seem to have encircled it at intervals from top to bottom. 
As an illustration of differences, both in form and orna- 
mentation, two 

of the mortuary 

urns from the 

midland counties 

may be shown. 

The one is from 

Cestersover, in 

the county of 

From Warwickshire. Warwick, and the From Northamptonshire. 

other from Marston Hill, in Northamptonshire. 

The great mass of fragments represent no small variety of 
shape, size, and composition ; the coarser kinds, however, pre- 
dominate, and their material is occasionally so thickly strewn 
with pulverized stone or flint, as to resemble the bottoms of 
Koman mortaria, in which grain and fruits were regularly 
pounded for cookery. Hazarding a conjecture as to size, we 
should say the vessels had ranged from six to eighteen inches 
in height, by three inches to eight inches in breadth, or capable 





332 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

of holding from a gill to a gallon of liquid. In form, the larger 
proportion have been slender, though varying much in the 
proportionate thickness of the neck, and always narrowing 
considerably towards the base, except in late mediaeval 
examples, wherein a tendency to greater breadth and capacity 
is observable. 

The Glazes are mostly of a green or brown colour, and un- 
questionably more for use than ornament, merely covering the 
rim and contiguous portions of the vessel, which were likely 
to come into contact with the lips in drinking. In only one 
instance have we noticed a pattern in coloured paint, which 
occurs upon a white and unglazed ground, and may possibly 
prove to be of earlier fabrication. 

A close inspection of these fictile remains discovers no 
fragments of either plates or dishes ; and this circumstance 
tells in favour of the opinion alluded to above, that forms now 
so universally distributed and essential, were (in crockery) 
unknown to or unused by our forefathers, so lately as the 
conclusion of the thirteenth century. Wooden platters must 
have alone obtained. In connection with this point, Mr. 
Hudson Turner remarks — "Earthenware, though certainly 
made in England in the thirteenth century, in the form of 
pitchers and jars, does not seem to have been applied to the 
fabrication of plates or (shallow) dishes. Probably the earliest 
instance of the use of the latter may be ascribed to the reign 
of Edward IV., when certain dishes and plates of earthenware 
were purchased (for the court) from the cargo of a great ship 
which came from Spain, and which, among other novelties, 
brought the first oranges known to have been introduced into 
England."* 

We may note that a dealer in dishes and porringers was 
denominated an csquclcr (often pronounced squder), from the 
French ecuclle ; hence our modern scullery ,& place where table 

* Dom. Architecture in Englandj p. 102. 



POTTERY, GLASS, AXD ENAMEL. 333 

crockery is washed rip. The cognomen of potter was intro-. 
duced by the iSTornians, the Saxon synonyme being tyl-wryglit 
(tile-wright), a name found in our earliest provincial records, 
and known to have been borne by a family resident at Burslern 
in the Potteries for several centuries.* 

Since the above was written, our attention has been 
drawn to a notice in The Reliquary, an antiquarian periodical 
of considerable merit, in which the editor, Mr. L. Jewitt 
of Derby, publishes his discovery, in that neighbourhood, 
of a ISTorman or mediaeval pottery, which is perhaps unique. 
Although as yet the mounds have been but partially ex- 
plored, a large mass of toasters, and other debris, have been 
disinterred, including a few nearly perfect examples of the 
twelfth to fourteenth century pitchers. A personal inspection 

the Cheshire *»■»*«. shore, in 

which fragments of precisely similar ware occur, and in an 
isolated manner, as if spread, as in the present day, along with 
manure or other household refuse. 

Some of our Cheshire examples are, however, of earlier 
manufacture than any we noticed at the Derbyshire pottery ; 
others are identical in material, shape, and glaze; whilst others 
again would seem to be of later make, say the fifteenth and 
sixteenth centuries. 

The slashed and indented patterns upon many of our 

* Hist. Brit. Pottery, p. 148. 



334 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



handles, and previously regarded as peculiar to this neigh- 
bourhood, have 
exact counter- 
parts at the 
lately found 
manufactory, 
where indeed it 
seems by no 
means unlikely 
these were all 

Clumsy Norman Jug. produced. Improved Norman Jug. 

In glaze, the products of both localities confirm our opinion 
(in contradistinction to that of Mr. Marryatt quoted above), 
that early English crockery was but rarely covered inside and 





out with glaze to hold 
the examples in ques- 
merely covering the up- 
the vessel; when ex- 
it is evidently the result 
design in all that have 
The conclusion we ar- 
that these crocks were 
baked to withstand per- "pi-olicting'handieV 




Peculiar Vessel with 



liquids. In fact, upon 
tion, it is usually found 
per rim and the base of 
tending over the outside, 
of dipping rather than 
come under our notice, 
rive at necessarily is, 
mostly sufficiently kiln- 
eolation. 



4. — Spindle Whorls and Beads* 

The miscellaneous articles in terra-cotta comprise " spindle- 
whorls," beads, and smoking-pipes. The first are of a bluish 
stone colour, flat and circular in form, and with a moderate- 
sized perforation in the centre. The specimens hitherto 
noticed are, with one exception, (PL XIV. fig. 2,) nearly uniform 
in contour, only differing in their sharp or rounded edges, thus 
contrasting strongly with the far more numerous objects in 
lead of presumably analogous purpose, as connected with the 



* See Art. IX., p. 151, and X., p. 157. 



TOBACCO-PIPES. 



335 



ancient spindle, which continued in use from Eoman or earlier 
times, down to the age of Elizabeth. The late Mr. Thomas 
Bateman, the Derbyshire antiquary, records the frequent 
occurrence of such perforated disks of clay on Eoman sites, 
and considered it not improbable they might also have been 
used in some sedentary game. 

The Saxon cemeteries of Kent, again, disclose numbers of 
these articles ; and it not unfrequently happens that the sex of 
the occupant of the grave is solely determined by the presence 
of the spindle- whorl, the remainder of the personal relics of 
the deceased, in Saxon fashion always accompanying the 
corpse, having been stolen or become decomposed.* In two 
cases the whorls have been made of pounded tile or brick, and 
retain a reddish colour ; but the remainder are of a fine clay, 
probably the local blue marl. They have occasionally been 
thought manufactured from some fine porous stone ; but this 
proves to have been a mistake, The upper bed of marl lies 
immediately beneath the main stratum of forest-bog, yet crops 
out in several spots along the beach. 

The heads of terra-cotta approach more nearly to the shape 
of an orange than any of the last-named objects, and generally 
present a remarkably and apparently unnecessarily large per- 
foration,f considering their use, which was chiefly that of gauds, 
or central beads of rosaries ; most probably the orifices have 
been enlarged by the friction of long-continued use. 



XXXYL— TOBACCO -PIPES4— Plate XXXI. 

Very small pipes are found all over these islands, which 
are known in Ireland as Fairy pipes or Danes' pipes. The 



* Inventorium Sepulchrale. 

t See figs. 7 and 10, Plate XV. 

X For most of the forms shown 
here, I am indebted to the kindness of 
Mr. Jewitt of Derby. They appeared 
in illustration of two articles in 



the Reliquary, vol. III., pp. 74 and 
79. It was originally intended that 
Mr. Ecroyd Smith should write this 
article ; and he has described the ob- 
jects on the Plate. His remarks are 
given at the close. 



336 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

name is of no importance, and no inference can be founded 
upon it ; for the Irish attribute any thing unusually small to 
the fairies, and any thing very ancient or inexplicable to the 
Danes. But the question has never yet been decided, that is 
to say satisfactorily, whether they are very ancient or com- 
paratively modern. The growing opinion is that few, if any, 
are more than three centuries old. 

On the one hand, it is certain that the fumes of burning 
plants were inhaled, medicinally and for pleasure, centuries 
before the time of Ealeigh, and in various countries of the old 
Continent, including our own. It is also clear, as has been 
shown by the late Professor Johnson and others, that the 
widely extended use of some narcotic by mankind, shows a 
natural demand for it in certain circumstances of the human 
constitution. To this earlier use of some of the well-known 
vegetable substances, it is possible and even probable that a 
few of the older and smaller forms may be attributed ; and thus 
that the theory of high antiquity, in regard to the smoking- 
pipe, is not altogether erroneous. 

On the other hand, it is certain that the use of American 
tobacco in this country commenced in the reign of Queen 
Elizabeth, about 1585 ; that it spread with great rapidity, and 
attracted much attention ; that numerous factories for tobacco- 
pipes were soon after established ; and that a very large per- 
centage of the examples met with, extend no further back than 
the close of the sixteenth century. Few assert that the smoking- 
tube (used in connection with some substance) was then 
manufactured for the first time ; the argument is, that from 
that date it came into extensive use, and in the forms 
with which we are familiar. There is thus both negative 
and positive evidence, the details of which it is impossible 
to give here, that smoking-tubes or pipes were known in 
the British islands before the time of Elizabeth, 

The early smoking-pipes, even those which we know to 
have been employed in connection with tobacco, were distin- 



TOBACCO-PIPES. 337 

guished by a small bowl ; but that fact may not have arisen 
solely from the scarcity of the material consumed. The 
tobacco-pipe, as we see it represented in old pictures, had a 
stem of five or six inches long, like our own; but those which 
are found from time to time are usually fragments, the stem 
being rarely more than an inch in length. 

Certain Indians of North America gave the name tabak to the 
instrument which they used in smoking ; the Spaniards, from 
this fact, gave name to the island of Tobago ; and by changing 
a voice consonant to a voiceless one, (or the sound of g to that 
of k,) we have the term tobacco. There is strong evidence that 
it was extensively used in this neighbourhood during the last 
century. In 1787, every man, woman, and almost every boy 
and girl, in the village of Formby, smoked at nearly all hours 
and in all places. Every person who came to the vestry to 
speak to the minister came with the pipe in his mouth, and 
it appeared an affectation of singularity to be without it. The 
reason which they assigned for the prevalence of the custom 
was, that many years before, a ship laden with tobacco had 
been stranded on the adjoining sands, and that the large 
quantity procured from the wreck, by the country people, had 
wedded them all to the habit.* But the cause probably lay 
deeper than this, and belonged to philosophy rather than to 
history. At the date assigned, the marshes of the Alt were 
undrained; Martin-mere and other shallow pools occupied 
the long and dreary flat without any suitable egress ; so that 
the fenny exhalations produced a natural craving, such as is 
gratified by opium-eating in some of our eastern shires, or by 
frequent smoking of tobacco in Holland. 

In my boyhood I was familiar with the Gospel Sonnets of 
the Rev. Ralph Erskine — one of the godly men of Scotland 
about 130 years ago, though actually a native of England — 
and they contain two curious poems on the same subject, 



♦Information communicated by the late Rev. Robert Cort, of Kirkby. 

Z 



338 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

" Smoking spiritualized." I may be permitted to quote a 
few stanzas from one of them in a note.* 

The cigar-case and tobacco-pipe of our own days have quite 
set aside the snuff-boxes of our grandsires, though the process 
of snuff-taking is still common in the Highlands of Scotland. 
At the Mayor's dinner parties in our Town Hall, a large silver 
snuff-box with feet is occasionally passed round the table, and 
tradition affirms that it is the actual tobacco-box of the last or 
the previous century. It is not impossible that, in illustration 
of the cycles of fashion, it may yet return to its original use. 

Surprise is often expressed that the use of tobacco was so 
general before the close of the sixteenth century; that it sprung 
into popularity with such rapidity. But there are many ex- 
amples of new substances attaining a rapid and extensive 
popularity, and a secondary or acquired appetite sometimes 
takes a firm hold of individuals. We have an illustration of 
it in our own age, and in the case of tobacco. It is not much 
more than about fifty years since it was introduced among the 
people of New Zealand, yet in twelve or fifteen years it had 
become almost a necessary of life. The following quotation 
is interesting : — 

" The tribe were getting ready for a war expedition, and my friend 
was filling cartridges from a fifty-pound barrel of gunpowder, pouring 
the gunpowder into the cartridges with his hand, and smoking his 
pipe at the time ; as I have seen the natives doing fifty times since. 
A spark fell into the cask, and it is scarcely necessary to say that he 
was roasted alive in a second. I have kuown three other accidents of 
the same kind from smoking while filling cartridges. In one of these 



This Indian weed, now wither'd quite, 
Though green at noon, cut down at night, 

Shows thy decay; 

All flesh is hay : 

Thug ihink— and smoke tobacco. 

The pipe, bo lily like and weak. 
Does thus thy mortal state bespeak ; 

Thou art e'en such, 

Gone, witli a touch ! 

Thus think— and smoke tobacco. 

And when the Rmoke ascends on high, 
Then thou bchold'st the vanity 



Of worldly stuff, 
Gone, with a puff ! 

Thus think— and smoke tobacco. 

And when the pipe grows foul within, 
Think on thy soul defiled with sin ; 

For then the lire 

It does require : 

Thus think— and smoke tobacco- 

And sce'st the ashes cast away. 
Then to thyself thou mayest say- 
That to the dust 
Keturn thou must : 

Thus Uiink— and smoke tobacco. 



TOBACCO-PIPES. 



339 



accidents tliree lives were lost and many injured; and I really do be- 
lieve that the certainty of death will not prevent some of the natives 
from smoking for more than a given time. I have often seen infants 
refuse the mother's breast and cry for the pipe till it was given to 
them ; and dying natives often ask for a pipe, and die smoking."* 

I will now exhibit some interesting forms of the tobacco- 
pipe, following, as nearly as possible, the chronological order : — 
1. American. — The American pipe now 
commonly in use consists of two indepen- 
dent pieces, the bowl and the stem ; but 
there is a tradition among the Indians of 
various parts, that the more ancient ones 
consisted of a single piece, like ours. One 
of the oldest specimens is given here. A 
gigantic pine-tree, which had grown 
upon an old grave 
near Thunder Bay, 
ripe from Tidier B ;;. Michigan, was 

blown down ; and the pipe was found in the deposit below 




JVIoq.JP Pipe. 

its roots. It is of fine-grained yellowish 
pottery, resembling terra-cotta; but less 
baked and less finely tempered.! The Moqui 
Indians, a pastoral tribe of New Mexico, 
possess a peculiar form of pipe, nearly 
straight, to which some of our modern ones 
appear to be an approximation.^ But the 
most noted example of the prevalent taste, as 
well as of skill in the manufacture, is one 




in foiin of 

,1. 1. 



* Old New Zealand, pp. 37, 38. 
t Schoolcraft, I., 74 ; PI. viii. 



% Schoolcraft, IV., PI. vii. 



340 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



which is found in the form of an idol. It is eleven inches 

high ; the orifice forming the bowl, and that for the insertion 

of the shank, are both in the back ; and, when discovered, it 

was seated on the top of a high rock.* 

2. English. — Annexed is a supposed Elizabethan pipe (a), from 

the style of which it has been 
inferred that it was manufac- 
tured in Shropshire. The next (b) 
is of the same 
date, but small 
in size. The 
third speci- 
(o) Elizabethan pipe. men (c) is from 

Dufneld,and is ascribed to the same period. The 

specimen (d) is from Broseley, and 

bears the date 1600, 

Connected with the reigns of James L 

and Charles I., or extending through the 





(6) Elizabeth m Pipe, 

full size. 





(d) From Broseley. 

first half of the seventeenth century, we have the following. 
First (e), whose date is fixed inferentiall v, 
and four others (J) from ancient prints, 

-"whose dates range over ten or eleven 

w Temp . jameBToT^^T years. To these may be added a very 
curious one (g), with an anchor, and something like a pile of 
bullets over the letters, S. T. 




Schoolcraft, I., PI. xiii. 



I 



TOBACCO-PIPES. 



341 



1630. 



1632. 



1640. 



^= 



~ 1641. 




(/) Forms from Prints. 



(g) From Derby. 



The following belong to the period of the Commonwealth 
and Charles II. A barrel- 
shaped specimen (h) from 
Broseley ; and five specimens 
(J) mainly from tradesmen's 
tokens. Another barrel- 
shaped pipe (k), but without (h) From Br0Be i ey . 

a date, is evidently of the same 
' 1650. period ; it is from Devonshire. 

C\ The next three examples are from 

V 1666. Broseley, and ^ 




a 



are all dated, 



^ 
^ 



1668. 

viz. (I) 16/5 ; 

1668. ( m )1687;(?t) w^^- 8birc - 




1669. 



(j) jbrom T.adesmeu's Tokens, &c. 



1685. 




(/) Plain. 



(».) Oriiiuin mi <i 



(n) Larpp. 



PA11T II. — THE OBJECTS. 



The pipes of the reign of William III. exhibit longer bowls, 
and were probably brought to this country by the Dutch 
soldiers. They are found on the scenes of his battles in 
Ireland, and near the place of his embarkation at Hoylake ; 
but at some distance from the site of the submerged settle- 
ment at Meols. Three specimens (p, 




here. Bat the bar- 
rel-shaped pipes 
were not super- 
seded, as is evident 



UH 



(o) Temp. William III. 

men (V) ; and it is 
manufacture, and 
ones from Holland, 
men (s) from Brose- 
the same period. 
Broseley (£),slightly 
exhibits the date, 1696 



from a dated speci- ( p *** «> Temp, wmiam m. 
not unlikely that these were of native 
the long-bowled 
An undated speci- 
ley, is probably of 
Another from 
differing in shape, 




(r) Broseley. 




(») Broseley. (f) Broseley. 

Of the eighteenth century pipes, there is a Broseley speci- 
men (?;) dated 1729 ; and by the side of it we may place an 

undated specimen (iv), evidently 
more modern than most of the 
others. This is from the same 
place. The last specimens under 
this head are two (x and y) 
< r > 1 ' in which the bowl and stein 

form an unusually obtuse angle with each other. 




TOBACCO-PIPES. 



343 




(u>) Eroseley. 



3. Irish. — Brass tobacco-pipes are sometimes found in 
Ireland, and there are thirteen specimens in the collection 




(x) Undated, obtuse Angled. (y) 

of the Royal Irish Academy. They are of the usual size, 
formed in two parts, and brazed together. The adjoining 
example is from the cut in Dr. Wilde's Catalogue, and the 
junction is very visible in both the bowl and the stem. The 




Brass Tobacco-Pipe. 

date assigned to this is the end of the seventeenth century, 
and it is supposed to be of Flemish workmanship. 

There were quaint tobacco-boxes introduced into this 
country about the same time, no doubt from various parts of 
the Low Countries. One, in my own possession, is of brass, 
tinned within ; it is oval in shape, of about an inch in thick- 
ness, and has a chain attached near the hinge for suspending 
it over the arm. It is covered with engraving both on top 






344 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

and bottom, which may be regarded as a specimen of Dutch 
wit and sentiment. On the lid, the upper half of the ellipse 
is occupied by five persons, including a fisherman, who has 
ensnared a woman in a net. In ovals underneath, they speak 
in Dutch respectively as follows : — ■ 

Woman. — Although I seem frightened, I allow myself to be taken. 

Fisherman. — This trick has been well planned, and I have brought 
the fish in my net. 

Gentleman. — Fisherman, if you get many such fish, you may sell 
some of it to me. 

Monk. — If I had such fish to eat in my monastery, it would make me 
forget meat. 

Cripple. — Father, such fish has been the cause that I walk on 
crutches. 

On the bottom of the box three men support a log of wood 
on their shoulders ; and there occur the three lines — 

Here am I carrying the burden which every man must carry. 
If every one would carry his own burden, it would be the best ; 
For every one will have enough to carry at the last. 

These sentiments are probably supposed to be uttered by 
the three men respectively. 

4. Anglo- American. — In 1764 a medal was struck in Eng- 
land, apparently for presentation to the chiefs among the 
American Indians. The obverse has the profile and inscrip- 
tion similar to those on our coins ; but the reverse represents 
a British officer seated beside an Indian under a spreading 
tree. The town and .harbour of New York appear in the back- 
ground. The Indian holds in his hand 
a long pipe ; and the legend is, " Hap- 
py when united." The ring for sus- 
pension is formed by a pipe crossed by 
the wing of a bird; and the form of From the 0eorgian Mi „ nli ,,,,. 
the pipe is shown here. It exhibits a junction like that of 
the brass pipe from I reland. 




TOBACCO-PIPES. <54o 

The remarks following are Mr. Smith's : — 

The smoking-pipes include many of the forms in use from 
early English time downward, those of the sixteenth and 
seventeenth centuries predominating, and comprising two or 
three of the most limited capacity ever found in this country, 
and which are not unlikely to have been used for inhaling the 
fumes of narcotics, &c, long anteriorly to the introduction of 
tobacco* into the British Isles, at whatever time this may prove 
to have taken place ; for at present the date is undetermined. 

It has been erroneously supposed that the site of William 
of Orange's camp off Hoylake supplied these smaller forms of 
pipe, which are universally allowed to be the oldest; the 
mistake has doubtlessly arisen in the general application of 
this quite modern name to the whole neighbourhood, inclusive 
of several ancient hamlets, one of which, Great Meols, is the 
true locality of the earliest shapes, see figs. 1, 2, 3. Examples 
with more capacious bowls, and pointed spur or keel, are found 
near or on the supposed site of the camp ; these, however, 
bear no stamp, private mark, or initials of the potter, whilst 
those turned up at Great Meols generally are found to possess 
one of the three. On old pipes throughout this country 
dates are rare, and the occurrence of a potter's name in full 
infrequent, only one appearing here. It bears the short name 
of John Hunt, but the very limited space occasions its division 
into three lines, PL XXXI., fig. 3. This manufacturer had 
evidently good sale for his ware, specimens of which have been 
found in many distant counties. Judging from the formation 
of the letters, we should say he lived temp. Cromwell and 
Charles II. 

Pipe-making had commenced at Broseley, in Staffordshire, 
before the close of the sixteenth century. The raw material 
then, as now, was the fine white clays of Devon and Cornwall, 



* Vide " Notes on Clay Pipes," &c., Trans. Hist. Soc. Lane, and Chcsh. 
Session, 1859 — 60. 



U6 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



and the manufacture is thus described by Mr. Thursfield, a 

large local collector* 

" Pipe-making, in the early days of its introduction, was a 
very different matter from what it is now. Then the greater 
part of the manipulation was performed by the master, and 
twenty or twenty-four gross was the largest quantity ever 
burned in one kiln. This required from fifteen cwt. to a ton 
of coal. Each pipe rested on its bowl, and the stem was 
supported by rings of pipeclay placed one upon the other as 
the kiln became filled; the result was that at least twenty 
per cent, were warped or broken in the kiln. At the present 
time the preliminary preparations of the clay are performed 
by men, but the most delicate part is almost entirely in- 
trusted to the hands of women. The pipes are placed in 
suggers, to be burned after the Dutch mode ; and from 350 
to 400 gross in one kiln is not an uncommon quantity. The 
breakages at the present day amount to not more than one 
per cent., and the quantity I have named requires no more 
than from eight to ten tons of coal for burning." 

The smallness of the pipe-mouth necessitated the constant 
use of stoppers, which were manufactured of different sub- 
stances, and in great variety of form.-f- They were often 
attached to the person ; but do not appear to have been much 
noticed by antiquaries or others, probably in the latter case 
from their use being unknown. When met with, they are 
mostly of brass, of which metal our example (fig. 6) is made. 
It is one of the earliest known forms, and represents a soldier 
habited in the latest fashion of plate armour, temp. James I , 
supporting by the right hand a long pipe of some kind. 

Subjoined are the pipe-potter's marks we have been able to 
decipher upon examples in our local collections : J — 

ion 
Within a plain circle, nhv 

NT 



* « Old Broseleys 
Vol. III., p. 81. 



The Reliquary, 
t A number of these curious articles 



are engraved in JTairholt's "Tobacco 
and it's Associations." 
X Fourteen pipes, in addition to 



these, were discovered in 1S62 (see 
Tart II., Addenda}, of which seven 
arc supposed to be of the sixteenth 
century, and seven of the seventeenth. 
The only new marks which they sup- 
ply arc ED, i:k. i;.v. 



ANIMAL REMAINS. 347 

Within a dotted circle, ab. — h — IB — im — k.f. — a sprig of 
tobacco plant between them — s.E. — tp — 

Within a plain square, _„._, — t.h. — 

Within a dotted heart, gc — 

Within a dotted arch, A.c. — IB — il — m — 



XXXYII.— ANIMAL REMAINS.— Plate XXXII. ■ 

We are not yet sufficiently informed to be able to enumerate, 
without exception, what animals possessed the earth with man 
in these countries during the historic period; but careful 
researches of late have enabled us to advance the question a 
few steps nearer to solution. That he used the inferior ani- 
mals at an early period for food and clothing is certain ; and, 
as tillage was little understood and less practised during the 
paucity of population, animal food was used in much larger 
proportions than at present. In some extensive districts in 
South America, flesh is the traveller's only food, almost without 
a single specimen of vegetable food, even by way of variety. 

Hence, wherever we find traces of human habitation, we 
may expect to find bones, horns, teeth, &c. ; and in some 
instances, as at . Eichborough, the remains are peculiar, as we 
trace the Romans by their mounds of oyster-shells. 

Animal remains are found in two conditions — viz. (1), in a 
natural state, and (2), manufactured; and not unfrequently 
they are found in both these conditions at any one place. 

1. — In the Natural State. 

In recording what has been found in this locality, it will 
not be necessary to do more than to arrange in catalogue form 
the remains which have come to light. We must premise that 
the general fauna differs in no important respect from that of 
any neighbouring district; and also that we only think it 



348 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

necessary to notice here the remains of such creatures as have 
been brought into immediate contact with our own species. 

(1.) Man. {Homo sairiens) — As these have been more care- 
fully deposited than the remains of inferior animals, so they 
are of less frequent occurrence ; but skeletons in whole or in 
part are occasionally found, not at the site of the ancient 
burying-ground, but protruding from the black earth. 

(2.) The Irish Elk. (Megaceros Hibernicus) — I do not know 
on what authority the remains of this creature have been identi- 
fied, but I have been told that they were so by Mr. Smith. 

(3.) Eed Deer. {Cervus elaphus.) — This animal was formerly 
abundant in England, but now exists in small numbers, except 
in the Highlands of Scotland. It was the principal object of 
the chase in Ireland in ancient times, but is almost unknown 
there also. Very fine antlers, dug up in the neighbourhood, 
are in the possession of General the Hon. Sir Edward Oust, of 
Leasowe Castle. 

(4.) Eoe Buck. {Cervus capreolus) — This animal is sup- 
posed to be of late introduction, if actually introduced from 
other lands ; for from a certain date it became known, and 
since that time the red deer has diminished in numbers. 

(5.) Fallow Deer. {Cervus dama.) — This animal is men- 
tioned to allow the opportunity of saying that, so far as I know, 
its remains have not been met with here. 

(6.) {Bos primiyenius) — Horns and skulls of this animal 
exist in the Free Public Museum, and a fine skull of it is in 
the possession of Sir Edward Oust. One or two others have 
also been procured at Wallasey. It is supposed by Professor 
Owen, that the animal was in all probability identified 
with a race of cattle spoken of by Caesar, which was not 
much inferior to the elephant in size, and differed from all 
domestic cattle by the great strength and expansion of its 
horns. The following table shows the size of a specimen from 
the Cheshire shore, as compared with one taken from Owen's 
British Fossil Mammals and Birds, pp. 501, 50l\ 



jmi 







HUME'S. HQYtA^t ANT. 



J Z WORRALL.LITH 



ANIMAL REMAINS 



ANIMAL REMAINS. 



349 



Skull from Wallasey, 

in the Liverpool Free 

Public Museum. 

Feet. Inches. 

Length of Skull 2 4 

Span between tips of horn cores 2 5 

Curve of horn, Outside 2 4 

„ „ Inside 1 10 

Girth of base of horn cores 1 3 

Breadth of forehead be- j Greatest 1 ) 

tween the horns (Least 7) 

Length of series of uppper molar teeth 7 

Width between the orbits 11 J- 



Skull from Athol, 

in the 
British Museum. 



Feet, 

3 
3 



Inches. 


6 



104 



(7.) (Bos longifrons.) — This animal, like the preceding one, 
is extinct ; but there can be no doubt that it existed within 
historic times, viz., at the period of the Romans. It is called 
the Small Fossil Ox, by way of distinction from the Bosprimi- 
genius, or Great Fossil Ox. The large skull shown on Plate 
XXXII. belongs to it. Small as the horns are in this speci- 
men, it is supposed that the head is that of a bull ; for other 
specimens found on the shore, and portions of which are in 
the possession of Mr. Ecroyd Smith, and other gentlemen, are 
smaller in size. The dimensions of the one on our plate are 
given in the following table, which also shows for comparison 
the size of another, probably that of a female ; the account of 
which is taken from Owen, as before. 



tall 



Inches. 

Length of Skull 20 

„ „ from supra-occipital 
ridge to nasal bones 

Breadth of Skullbetweenrootsof horns 
„ „ between middle of orbits 

Circumference of base of horn core ... 

Length of horn core, following out- "> 
ward curvature J 

Span of horn cores from tip to tip 9 

„ „ at widest expansion 12 

Length of series of upper molars 5 



Skull from Wallasey, 
in Liverpool Free 
Public Museum. 



Lines. 





6 

4 

10 

5 

5 



Skull in Hunterian 
Museum, London, 
from Irish Bog. 

Inches. Lines. 



5 
6 

4 

4 
12 



350 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

(8.) Wild Boar. (Sus scrofa.) — The tusks of this animal 
are abundant near many of the Roman stations ; and in the 
reigns of our early Plantagenet kings it ranged the woods of 
England in large numbers. 

(9.) The Horse. (Equus caballus.) — This animal was known 
to the ancient Britons, as it drew the war-chariots of the 
monarchs who opposed the invasion of the Romans. From 
the remains found on the Cheshire shore, near Hilbre island, 
it has been inferred that the local horse of other days was 
small, and akin to the modern pony. Various facts lead us to 
the same inference, as (1) that many of our native breeds 
were and are still small, as the shelty (Shetland pony), 
raghery (Rathlin pony), and hobby (ancient Irish horse) ; (2) 
that the size of the chariot is that adapted to small animals, 
e. g., the Roman wheel in Shrewsbury Museum ; (3) that the 
same fact is shown in ancient illustrations on comparing the 
size of men and horses. 

(10.) The Dog. (Canis familiaris) — The remains of this 
animal are of frequent occurrence. 

(11.) The Wolf. {Canis lupus) — The remains are of 
frequent occurrence, showing that the animal abounded in 
the Cheshire forests. 

(12.) The Sheep. (Ovis aries.) — Remains frequent. 

(13.) (Cetacean), Rib of. — This was found in the excavations 
of Wallasey Pool, and is described by Mr. Moore * 

(14.) Birds. — The bones of these are frequently found, but 
it is difficult to say whether the animals were used as food by 
the ancient inhabitants of the seashore, or whether they are 
the remains of those which were destroyed in the usual way 
in more recent times. The object, Plate XXXIL, fig. 4, 
appears to be the upper part of the bill of a snipe, and was 
evidently used as a sort of rude piercer. 

* Trans. Hist. Soc, VII., 265. 



axdial remains. 351 

2. — In the Manufactured State. 

Of those which bear traces of the hand of man, the follow- 
ing may be mentioned — 

(1.) The little object in ivory, Plate XV., fig. 13, is of conrse of 
foreign origin ; itisreferredto among the pendent objects, page 164. 

(2.) The hair-pins or piercers, Plate XXIL, figs. 6, 9. These 
are alluded to, page 225, and both appear to have been parts 
of the leg-bone of a sheep. 

(3.) Pig. 3. A boar's tusk, showing traces of carving by 
means of cross lines. The tusk of the boar was frequently 
used for suspension, and was employed with more or less of 
decoration. One found at Eichborough had an ornamental 
piece of brass attached to it, and it had probably been worn as 
a trophy of the chase. An engraving of it is given, Antiquities 
of Eichborough, 110, and also Transactions of Historic Societv, 
VII., 227. A similar tusk is seen (fig. / in the Leicester 
objects,) with two holes near the top for suspension, and its sides 
bevelled or squared throughout. Another has been alluded to 
under the head of ear-rings, page 251. 

(4.) The object shown, fig. 5, appears to have been squared 
at the lower end, and is cylindrical elsewhere. It bears a very 
close resemblance to the harp-pins in the Eoyal Irish Academy, 
several of which were discovered in a crannoge at Strokestown, 
one of which is figured in Wilde's Catalogue, page 340. 

(5.) Bone Whistle, fig. 6. This is somewhat similar to one 
which was found among Roman remains at Leicester (fig. c, on 
the woodcut of Leicester objects), except that it is broken off 
a little below the hole or ventage. 

(6.) Fig. 7. This appears to be a portion of a knife-handle, 
though it is difficult to say what purpose it actually served. 
No inference can be drawn respecting its age from its style of 
ornamentation ; for the circle and centre ornament was common 
in almost every age, and is found in almost every country. 

(7.) Mr. Smith possesses a hammer ingeniously manufac- 
tured out of a deer's horn, but it is not figured here. 



3D2 



PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 



(8.) He also possesses a ring of bone, consisting of a circle 
roughly sawn off. It has been broken, but exhibits very 
plainly the original design and rude execution. 

(9.) Leather. — This has been found not only in connection 
with the strap-tags treated of at page 116, and specially 
alluded to page 123, but one or two long straps like bridle- 
reins have been discovered. They were, however, mixed up 
with the modern sand and loam, and with some paving-stones, 
in a place which the country people declare was the remains 
of a farm-yard. The remains of shoe-soles have also been 
found apparently very ancient. They possessed strong cha- 
racteristics of the class which the shoemaker calls " rights 
and lefts," being very much pointed. That the arrangement 
by which shoes were adapted to the two feet respectively is no 
modern innovation, may be seen from a notice in Shakspeare.* 
A smith is represented as standing — 

With open mouth swallowing a tailor's news ; 
Who, with his shears and measure in his hand, 
Stood on his slippers, which his nimble haste 
Had falsely thrust upon contrary feet. 
For the sake of comparison, a few illustrations may be 
given of animal substances in a 
manufactured state, which have been 
found among antiquities in other 
parts of the country. The adjoining 
figure represents a piece of horn, seven- 
eighths of an inch broad, with points 
of brass-wire at its top and sides. 
ItVas found, with 
numerous other 
objects, in a grave 
at KinestonDown 

o 

in Kent.f The 
next exhibits a 




Horn, with Brass-wire Points. 




* King John, iv. 2. 



| f Inv. Sep., 41. 



ANIMAL REMAINS. 



353 



rude piece of bone, the amount of manipulation on which 
consists in its having a hole drilled in it. Through this, one 
of the knotted rings, explained elsewhere, of brass, has been 
passed, and it is prepared for suspension. It was found, with 
numerous interesting articles, in a woman's grave.* The next 
object was one of those found along with it. It is of ivory, and 




Ivory Armilla. 

appears to have been part of an armilla or bracelet. 

The group of objects shown here has been alluded to twice 




In the town of 
with a lining of 



Animal Eemains, from Leicester. 

already, but deserves a more explicit notice. 

Leicester, a Eoman well was discovered, 

strong wickerwork to contain the water, and to keep out the 

surrounding quicksand. It was about fourteen feet below 

the present surface of the ground, imbedded in the virgiD 



* Inv. Sep., 68. 



2 A 



354 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

soil; and about two feet above were traces of an ancient 
surface. Upon this lay several articles rudely fashioned out 
of bone, of which seven are shown here. Fig. (a) is a ring 
pierced with holes, as if for the purpose of attaching it to 
some part of the dress. Fig. (b) is like a modern knife-handle, 
being hexagonal in form, and evidently squared with some 
care; but, as the central perforation is large, it must have 
served some other purpose. Figs, (d) and (e) are each perfo- 
rated in the middle, and carefully bevelled and chamfered. 
The purposes which they served are unknown, but probably 
they were ornaments only. The central object appears to be 
a canine tooth, evidently used for suspension. 



XXXVIII.— A DDENDA. 
1. — Special Objects. 
1. Anchors. — About the year 1847, a fisherman brought to 
light an object which he and his fellows regarded as remark- 
ably curious. It was like a portion of a tree of white sand- 
stone, stuck full of shells, except that two bars crossed it at 
top and bottom, of the same material. It was nearly the 
thickness of a man's waist, and of course was very heavy. 
When brought to the village of Hoylake, it was an object of 
great curiosity ; and many were the guesses made respecting 
its name and purpose. By some accident, however, it was 
broken right across, and the fracture discovered a square bar 
of iron in the centre, with the vast accretion of sand and rust 
forming a thick coating round it. It was then observed that 
the longer of the two cross-bars had something like knobs at 
its extremities ; and it was thus at once seen that it was an 
anchor, entombed in sand which it had itself assisted in 
indurating into stone. It is now in the possession of the 
Historic Society, and its measured dimensions are as follows : — 

Feet Iiu-hes, 

Diameter of the incrustation 9 

Section of iron — side of square l£ 

Length of stem, about 4 6 

Length of head on each side 1 Oj 



ADDENDA. 



dOO 



Two other anchors have since been dredged up in like 
manner, and are both preserved at Hoylake. It would be 
dangerous to offer a surmise respecting the age of any of them, 
for the general form of anchor has been known for a long 
time ; and there is nothing, in either the anchor or the incrus- 
tation, to assist us in fixing the date. The cross-bar at the 
top is of iron, not of w T ood ; and, instead of being straight, 
forms the arc of a circle, like the head or portion with the 
flakes. 

2. Buckets. — There is a species of wooden vessel which was 
well known to our ancestors, for which the modern name, 

"bucket," seems most ap- 
propriate. There is no 
reason to believe that it 
was not used for ordinary 
domestic purposes, in 
which it possessed great 
advantage over earthen- 
ware vessels. The annexed 
example from Envermeu, 
in Normandy, will show 
their general shape; 
though, as in the case of 
implements of the same 
sort with ourselves, they 
differed in detail. In this 
~ mu ^ one there is a moveable 

Bucket from Envermeu, Normandy. 

drop handle ornamented, and the metal portion to which it is 
hinged on the body of the vessel is also ornamented, both with 
floreated extremities and indented marks. The broad hoop, 
which runs round in the middle, is ornamented like the handle ; 
but the bottoms of all the staves are decayed, the hoops 
merely showing the form which they assumed 

In June, 1760, a fragment of a similar object was discovered 
in one of the Kent is]) graves by Faussett, which he believed 
was part of a, scutum or square shield, the wood-work be:. 




356 



PAET II. — THE OBJECTS. 




less than half an inch thick. He says that it was " a little con- 
cave, in the manner of an half cylinder, inwards, that is, from 
top to bottom, and was covered all over the outside with a 

very thin plate of brass." On 
comparing it, however, with 
the perfect bucket given, it will 
be seen that this is a portion 
of a similar object, and that the 
metallic ornament which re- 
mains, is the lower portion of 
the ear to which the handle 
was attached. Of the four 
studs which originally held it 
on, thres remain, and it is evi- 

Fragment of Anglo-Saxon Bucket. ddlt that an Ornamental llOOp 

ran round under the lowest stud, as in the French specimen. 
It appears to have been ornamented 
with small pieces of brass, like a rab- 
bit or hare, with its nose resting on its 
forepaws, and its hinder-legs bent 
inwards. One of them is shown here, 
and, like the fragment of woodwork Brass ornament of Bucket 
itself, is on a scale of one-half. Another bucket, in a condi- 
tion of tolerable completeness, with metallic fastenings and 

ornaments, and a hook 
on the inside, is shown 
from Wilbraham, in 
Cambridgeshire. Mr. 
Wright mentions a cu- 
rious example of hasty 
conclusion. The me- 
tallic rim of a bucket, 
with triangular orna- 
ments on the top, like 
those which point 
downwards on the last 
mi. and with a handle 





ADDENDA. 357 

like that shown on the first, was actually supposed to he a 
crown, and was engraved in connection with a skull on which 
it was placed * 

Only one object of this class has been found on the Cheshire 
coast, and it contained no metal whatever ; it was in the form 
of a pail, narrowing towards the bottom, and about five inches 
in diameter, midway from top to bottom. It consisted of 
eight staves, to which the wooden hoops were attached by 
pegs ; each stave was very thin near the bottom, and the lower 
extremity presented a little ledge or step inwards, about 
half an inch high, on which the bottom rested. Two opposite 
ears projected to the extent of two inches and a quarter, each 
of which presented a shoulder for a wooden lid, and shewed 
marks of attrition by very long use. It possessed proofs of 
skill and workmanship, though in some respects it was very 
unlike similar implements of our own time. The fragments 
are in my own possession. Mr. Wright suggests that one use 
of these vessels among our forefathers may have been to carry 
in the ale and mead, or the wine into the hall, to be served out 
into the drinking-cups of the family or guests. 

3. Bronze Bowl. — Vessels of this kind were also frequently 
found, having probably been used to contain food upon the 
table. From the fact that solder is used at the handles, when 
they possess any, they are ill suited for standing fire, and 
some are enamelled and otherwise ornamented so as to shew 
they were never intended for it. The Saxon bowls were mostly 
quite plain, and formed of thin hammered metal, and some of 
them, as in one or two of the Faussett collection, have been 
carefully patched and repaired. One of these Saxon bowls 
has been found on the Cheshire coast ; it is a very interesting 
specimen, apparently of pure copper, and has been forcibly 
hammered into its present shape. Its dimensions are as 
follows : — 

* Wright's Essays, I., 153. 



358 TART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

Diameter 9J inches. 

Height 2^ „ 

Lip, turned over horizontally Of „ 

Capacity, or Content 3 pints. 

Weight 14 ounces. 

It has sustained a little injury, apparently by coming m 
contact with sharp stones, but is, on the whole, in a fair state 
of preservation. Unlike some of the Kentish examples, it 
has no stamp impressed upon the bottom, nor any distinguish- 
ing mark whatever. 

As a contrast to the simplicity of workmanship and form 
in this one, we may instance one of the beautiful household 
vessels of ancient Ireland. It is nineteen inches in diameter 
at top, a foot deep, and sixty-seven inches in girth. It is com- 
posed of numerous pieces of thin bronze, each averaging three 
and a quarter inches broad, but becoming shorter as they 
approach the bottom. The plates have been hammered, and 
they are united by rivets about half an inch apart, with beauti- 
ful sharp conical heads. Some were designed to be ornamental 
only, as all of them were to some extent, for they exist in 
places where there is no junction. In the bottom they are 

large and plain. The 
lip, or upper margin, 
which is two and a 
half inches broad, is 
rss-srsirripjllpj y| ornamented by a 

species of corrugation, 
and the outer edge of 
it, next the solid hoop, 
has a double line of 

Bronze Vessel of Riveted Plates. perforations. TlliTC 

are solid bronze handles, about the size of armilhv, attached 
to the rim by strong brazen staples.* An interesting account 
of such vessels, under the head of Bronze Cauldrons, is given 
by Robert M' Adam, Esq., in the Ulster Journal of ArcTuxology.f 

* Wilde's Catalogue, 529, 530. | f Ulster Journal, V. BS. 




ADDENDA. 359 

2. — The Products of a Single Year. 
In the Reliquary for July of the present year, there is a 
short article by Mr. Ecroyd Smith, showing the products of the 
seashore of Cheshire during a single year — viz., 1862. His 
enumeration, which I adapt to my own arrangement, will show 
better than any thing that I could say, the present produc- 
tiveness of the locality. He adds the following — 

" Almost all the older objects of interest are washed out of the beach, 
and, despite the unremitting care of a local collector, no doubt many 
escape notice through being never wholly freed from the overwhelming 
sand, which the continued undermining of the bank debouches on the 
shore. In the course of time these are buried under the growing East 
Hoyle, and other sandbanks further seaward, where doubtlessly are 
also entombed innumerable relics of historic and national interest, swept 
from the mainland long ere the remains attracted attention." 

It is well known that, from thirty to forty years ago, re- 
mains were to be met with in great numbers ; though but few 
obtained about that time, and for twenty years after, are known 
to have been preserved. 

1. Arranged Chronologically : — 

Roman. — A brass coin of Carausius ; a lyre-shaped fibula ; a 
bronze pin and a bronze buckle, found on Hilbre island. 

Norman and Mediceval. (Chiefly tenth to fourteenth cen- 
tury.) — A bronze brooch ; three silver pennies of Edward I. or 
II. ; a brass pin ; hasps ; nine tags ; buckle-shanks ; fourteen 
strap ornaments, brass ; nine buckles, brass ; a broad arrow ; 
three iron knives ; five fish-hooks ; a scent-box or cofferet ; 
part of a ring-brooch ; four portions of leaden brooches ; frag- 
ment of pewter buckles ; a strap-tag, lead ; a cubical weight 
or die, lead ; a coffer-handle, lead or pewter ; two hasps or 
fastenings, of lead or pewter ; a strap ornament ; a bone knife- 
handle. 

Later English. — A silver coin of Elizabeth or James I. ; a 
tradesman's copper token, 1667; ditto, 1669; lead buckle, 
part of ; coat-link, brass ; seven tobacco-pipes, sixteenth cen- 
tury ; seven ditto, seventeenth century. 



360 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

2. Arranged in the order of our Plates : — 
(1.) Roman Fibulas. (Plates III. and IV.) — One, lyre-shaped, 
bronze, two inches long. It wants the acus, hut is in good 
preservation. 

(2.) Circular Brooches. (Plate V.) — A fragment of lead or 
pewter of diced pattern, resembling those upon the leaden 
chrismatories or collars worn by ecclesiastics in the thirteenth 
and fourteenth centuries. Four portions of other brooches, 
lead or pewter. 

(3.) Buckle Brooches. (Plate VI.) — One bronze, of peculiar 
form. It is of Celtic pattern, with serpent-headed terminations 
recurved along the sides of the brooch. Between them they 
sustain an armorial shield. Others of this 
class, but more circular in form, like the 
Irish types, have been found on former 
occasions. They are of rare occurrence 
in England. Several consist of a succes- 
sion of rings, in imitation of the bodies of 
snakes. 

Serpent-headed Brooch. 

(4.) Buckles with Attachments. (Plate VII.) — Several of the 
attachments or shanks have been found separate, and one with 
the buckle complete. A fragment of leather remains between 
the plates of the shank. 

(5.) Buckles. (Plate VIII.) — Eight examples of brass, several 
retaining the acus ; portion of a buckle (?), lead or pewter, with 
flower-shaped pattern ; fragment of buckle (modern), pewter. 

(6.) Double Buckles and Hasps. (Plate IX.) — A bronze double 
buckle, Roman, one inch long, found at Hilbre island. Two 
hasps or clasps of lead or pewter, one ornamented. 

(7.) Hasps. (Plate X.) — Several of these of various types, in- 
cluding three of the rare kind indicated Tlate IX., tigs. 9, 10, 
11, and described page 108. 

(8.) Tags or Strap-ends. (Plate XL) — Xine brass, mediaeval. 
One lead or pewter, ditto, 

(!).) Strap Ornaments. (Plate XTT.) — Fourteen lozenge- 
haped pieces of brass. One of lead or pewter. 




ADDENDA. 



161 



(10.) Iron Knives. (Plate XVII.) — Three blades from two 
to four inches long. 

(11.) Goffer-handles and Mounting. (Plate XX.) — A handle, 
of lead or pewter. 

(12.) Implements of War or the Chase. (Plate XXI.) — A broad 
arrow, two and a fourth inches long, (see Plate XXI.,fig. 6.) 

(13.) Pins, Tweezers, &c. (Plate XXIII.) — One Eoman pin, 
bronze, with hemispherical head, one inch long. A brass pin, 
mediaeval, with flat circular head, two and a half inches long. 
(14.) Fish-hooks, Bells, &c. (Plate XXVI.)— Five^fish-hooks, 
iron. 

(15.) Seals, Tokens, and Coins. (Plate XXVII.) — A""scent- 
box or cofferet, twelfth or thirteenth century, with an inscrip- 
tion like that round the rim of pilgrims' 
signs, ajchosnj, which has been rendered 
thus : — A J(esus) CH(ristus) O(mnium) 
S(alvator X(azarenus) J(ud9eorum). It 
is circular in form, one inch in diameter, 
and a third of an inch in thickness ; the 
divisions being equal, and joined by hasp 
and hinge at opposite sides. The faces 
are similar — an open Saxon cross oc- 

Mediseval Se<mt-t)ox. 

cupying the centre of each side, the bars of which are 
separated by a pelletwithin an amulet* Ptoman fibulae of 
the circular form occur occasionally, showing a hinge like 
the hinge in this case, and a fastening like the opposite 
projection.! 

Tradesmen's Tokens.— -Two, of copper. The first has on the 
Obverse, Thomas Knight; a roll of tobacco occupying the 
field. Reverse. — Of Carnarvon, 1667; l d . in the field. No 
published account of this token appears to exist, and no 
notice of it is taken in Mr. Boyne's recent treatise. The other 
token has on the Obverse, Charles Christian, and a building, 




* Gentleman's Magazine for Decern- I f Wellbeloved's Eburacum, Plate 
ber, 1862, and Reliquary for July, 1863. I XVII., figs. I, 4. 



362 PART II. — THE OBJECTS. 

supposed to be Liverpool Castle, in the field ; on the Reverse, 
Grocer in Liverpoole ; and in the field, His Penny, 1669. 

Coins. — A third brass, of Carausius, apparently a rare 
example. Three silver pennies of Edward I. or II., minted at 
London. A small silver coin, apparently a threepenny piece 
of Elizabeth or James I. 

(16.) Miscellaneous Objects in Metal. (Plates XXYIIL, 
XXIX.) — A cube of lead, like a die ; apparently a weight. A 
coat-link, brass, with rude masonic emblems; probably 
modern. 

(17.) Pottery and Pijjes. (Plate XXXI.) — Seven tobacco- 
pipe heads, clay, sixteenth century. The potter's marks are 
ER, IB, EA. Seven ditto, seventeenth century. Potter's 
marks, BEX LEGO, ED, IB, IL. 

(1 8.) A nimal Remains. (Plate XXXII.) — Bone knife-handle, 
rudely ornamented at the part next the blade — length, two 
inches. 

Thus it appears that, during a single year, so many as 
ninety objects were recovered by the exercise of a little atten- 
tion and observation ; and there is no doubt that they were 
much more abundant in former years, before the sea had 
advanced so far upon the land. Yet, before these private 
collections began to assume form, it would have been difficult 
to show ninety objects altogether, though some of these were 
of great value or beauty. Eor want of such attention, anti- 
quarian objects in other parts of the country are lost almost 
as readily as they are found; no information is gained, or 
materials for philosophy furnished; and that which both 
sea and land had not merely spared, but even preserved, is 
wantonly destroyed by the people of our awn age, professing 
to occupy a position of advanced civilization. 



363 



PART III. 
DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 



I—FOUR THEORIES, 

•The inquiry as to how the articles came to occupy the 
position in which we find them, is the most puzzling of all ; 
for antiquities are usually procured in connection with some 
limited period of history. But, in the present case, ranging 
as they do over 1700 years at the least, the difficulty of 
accounting for them is increased. It is so great that some of 
our most experienced antiquaries have declined to hazard an 
opinion ; so that perhaps, without any imputation of presump- 
tion, one who has less archaeological reputation to lose, may 
he permitted to examine such theories as have been proposed. 
Indeed it is absolutely necessary to do so ; and without such 
inquiry our investigations would be incomplete. 

Four solutions have been attempted; respecting the first 
two of which only a few words will be necessary. The whole 
of the theories may be briefly stated as follows : — 1st, Ship- 
wreck ; 2nd, Fluvial Deposit ; 3rd, Aquatic Habitations ; and 
4th, Destruction of an Ancient Settlement. 

1. — Shipwreck. 
It has been suggested as a hypothesis or guess, but without 
any pretensions to the dignity of a theory, or a satisfactory 
explanation, that in some of the numerous wrecks which have 
taken place upon this coast, a collection of antiquities has 
been lost ; and such facts are adduced as the finding of guineas 
of the reign of Charles II., which were evidently deposited 
by the rupture of a treasure-chest at one time.* There have 

* Found 23rd September, 1834. — Transactions of the Historic Society, 
I., 104. 



364 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

also been several wrecks of importance, one of which was 
that of a ship, about 1820, portions of the material and cargo 
of which were occasionally found until within the last few years. 

In reply to this it is only necessary to state, that museums 
of British antiquities are of modern growth; that modern 
Archaeology is not yet a quarter of a century old ; and that 
the idea of a vessel being laden with any such collection is 
a gratuitous assumption, wholly unwarranted by the analogies 
of experience or the records of fact. 

But let us suppose that such things have been known ; and 
that ships, with museums on board, have been as common as 
those conveying gold from Australia or California. It is still 
necessary to explain how certain classes of these objects — the 
Eoman ones, for example — are found at a particular spot, and 
the more modern articles in totally different places. It will 
be necessary still further to show, why they are not cast out 
in the neighbourhood of deep water, but in that which is left 
dry by the receding tide ; as well as how they are found buried 
at various depths, in that which was recently arable ground 
and not properly belonging to the sea. From the position in 
which they are found, such a wreck must have taken place 
not only within recent historic times, but almost in our own 
day; that is to say, since this foreshore was undermined and 
had sunk beneath high-water mark — the date of which occur- 
rence we happen to know. It will be necessary, in like 
manner, to account in some other way for the records of 
history and geography, which show that the mediaeval highway 
round the peninsula was to seaward of the present shore line ; 
and why thousands of objects, cast out together, are found 
singly, or perhaps two at a time. 

Is not necessary, however, to adduce arguments in disproof 
of a hypothesis which has not a single fact to support it, and 
which scarcely ranges itself even within the category of 
possibilities. 



four theories. 365 

2. — Fluvial Deposit. 

On the surface of John Mackay's map of 1732, he indicates 
the following as one consequence of making the new cut, viz. — ■ 

" That y e land and soyle in y e cutt is no less than six 
millions of solid yards, y e greatest part thereof is supposed to 
be scoured as fast as possible towards Hoyl Lake and y e Barr." 

Eeasoning from these principles, it has been suggested 
that these objects of antiquity were originally connected 
with Chester; and that they were carried down the Dee by 
the force of the refluent tide, and deposited in still water. 
The propounder of this hypothesis seems to forget the dis- 
tinction between sand and mud, on the one hand, which are 
held in suspension by the water, and metallic objects, on 
the other, which would sink at once and become imbedded 
in the yielding bottom. It is true that the tidal scour has 
been very great, and that, as an evidence of the force of the 
river, the Hoyle bank has been literally cut in two. Not 
less than about 150 millions of cubic yards of sand have been 
removed ; a mass which one may say popularly is infinitely 
larger than all these objects united. But let us suppose that 
these metallic objects were capable of floating, and of obeying 
the influences which loosened, removed, and re-deposited the 
sand — the hypothesis is still untenable. For, the sand has been 
deposited within the ancient Hoyle lake, where none of these 
objects are procured ; and on the sheltered sides of some of 
the numerous banks, a position in which none of them are 
known to exist. On the contrary, they are found where the 
tidal action possesses great force from the sea : where sand 
lias not been borne in suspension and deposited ; and in a 
position where some of them might have been uncovered by 
high water, but could never have been left by an ebb tide. In 
short, the sea did not place the objects there, but it displaced 
them : Neptune did not hide them, but lie assists at their 
findirtg, by disintegrating the turf bog in which hundreds more 
probably lie buried, and washing them out, like the nuggets of 



366 PAET III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

the gold-digger, from the surrounding particles of earth. This 
supposition, therefore, is more than untenable, it is absurd. 

3. — Aquatic Habitations. 
This theory supposes that in the unsettled condition of 
several of the earlier ages, the huts of the inhabitants were 
erected over the water, and at some distance from the land ; 
there was thus a tidal moat interposed between them and 
enemies from the land, while attack from the sea was less 
probable. To a modified extent, as we shall see, this suppo- 
sition may be correct, but in general it is erroneous. It is, 
however, associated with modern facts of such deep interest, 
that the whole of the next chapter is devoted to its discussion. 

4. — Destruction of an Ancient Settlement. 
Every circumstance tends to show that this is the correct 
explanation of the facts. The reader will have anticipated this 
inference from the previous chapters, especially those of Part 
I. ; yet it is desirable to treat of the subject specifically. 
Accordingly, in two chapters (III. and IV.), cases more or less 
analogous are discussed ; and particular attention is drawn 
to one case which presents numerous points of strong resem- 
blance. 

II.— AQUATIC HABITATIONS. 

A few years ago, one would have been surprised to hear 
such a subject mentioned, yet at the present day we begin to 
wonder in what countries these habitations have not existed. 
Their remains are found abundant in Ireland, and not unfre- 
quently in Scotland.* They were also known in Syria, in a lake 



* The lakes of Banchory, in Kincar- 
dineshire, may be mentioned, and St. 
Margaret's isle, in the lake of Forfar. 
The crannoges of Clnny, in Perth- 



thc idea of the Castle of Avenel, had 
a jetty between the island and main- 
land; and the practice is noticeable 
at a few other places. At the recent 



shire, and of Clyne, in Sutherland, i meeting of the British Association, a 



were of the same kind; and those of 
North Uist, Loch Lochoy, and Loch 
Lomond. The lake of Yetholm. in 
the south of Scotland, which furnished 



paper was read by Lord Lovainc, to 
show that lacustrine habitations had 
recently been discovered in Wigton- 
shire. 



AQUATIC HABITATIONS. 



367 



formed by the expansion of the Orontes ;* and in portions of 
Polynesia they exist at present. Something analogons is fonnd 
in the fishermen's huts of the Bosphorus, nestling among the 
tops of piles which are fastened in the bottom ; and in the 
numerous boat-honses of the Chinese rivers. I will notice 
them very briefly in connection with the two countries where 
they are best known — viz., Ireland and Switzerland. With 
much that is very unlike, these countries always possessed 
two features in common — viz., (1) they were isolated, the one 
by its western situation, and the other by lofty mountain 
barriers ; and (2) each abounded in lakes. In Ireland many 
of these have been drained, though a large number still exist - 
in Switzerland they still remain, with such natural alterations 
as time has produced. 

1. — Ceaxxoges of Ireland. 
These were lake fortresses constructed on artificial islands, 
for greater security during troublous times. In the annals of 
Ireland they are noticed at least a thousand years ago, and 
records respecting them continued till nearly the year 1700. 
Xot unfrequently the crannoge was erected on a hill within the 
lake, thus taking for its basis a subaqueous mound not quite 
high enough to be called an island. Around the sides of this, 
strong oak piles were driven in a circle of about two hundred 
feet circumference. These piles, the lower parts of which still 
bear the marks of the axe, projected above the water, and were 
probably interlaced with branches of trees. The surface within 
was usually covered over with a series of short logs, on the top 
of which stones, clay, and other earthy matters were placed, 
large flat stones were deposited in the centre, as the hearth 
on which the fire was erected; and sometimes two or three 
Bjuoh places are shown to have existed. There are usually one or 
two pairs of quernstones found, and mum rous bones of black 



* Usurpatur vulgo "lacus Chrw- 
tiauonun," quia incolitar ;t piacatori- 

bus Christiauis, qui in laco isto boreali 



in tabernis ligno compactis super 
Bublicisdegunt — Troyon^qu Abulfeda'a 
Supp. TaLu/ui StricBj 14ili cent. 



368 



PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 



cattle, deer, and swine. Thus, we see something of the dietary 
of these secluded people. 

The engineers of the Board of Works in Ireland, who, 
principally by drainage operations, had uncovered many of 
these, presented a report giving a minute account of their 
general construction. An idea of this may be obtained from 
the adjoining woodcut, reduced from one of the sections fur- 




Ardakillin Crannoge, Roscommon. 



nished by these gentlemen. It represents the crannoge in 
Ardakillin Lough, near Strokestown, Eoscommon, which is 
constructed with both stones and oak piling. This one is 
oval in shape, and exhibits the internal arrangement of 
materials. The top line shows the highest winter level of 
former times ; the second that of the ordinary winter flood ; 
and the third the ordinary summer level. There was an 
enclosing wall, supported partly by piling, the remains of 
which are shown here in the strata of clay and peat. 
Within this wall, the upper layer consisted of a thick bed of 
loose stones, taking generally the convex shape of the original 
mound. 

In general, communication was held with these by means 
of a boat, though a very few were approached by moles or 
narrow causeways. Canoes of rude construction are disin- 
terred from time to time, of the sort which the people are 
supposed to have generally employed. It is supposed that 
bridges were utterly unknown. 

Numerous interesting details, respecting these structures, 
may be found in Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 
Vol. VII., in Dr. Wilde's Catalogue, in the Ulster Journal of 



1 



AQUATIC HABITATIONS. 369 

Archaeology, Vols. VII. and VIII., and in Troyon's Habita- 
tions Lacustres. Some of the most interesting finds of 
antiquities, within the last twenty years, have come to light 
in connection with these crannoges; until they are now 
regarded as the best and the only remaining storehouses of 
such objects. During many generations, small household and 
personal objects dropped into the water, and, though lost to 
the individuals, they sunk into the bottom, and were preserved 
to be brought to light in our own day. 

A few extracts, from documents connected with Irish 
history, will show the manner in which these structures are 
alluded to : — 

A.D. 848. Cinaedh " plundered the island of Loch Gabhor, and 
afterwards burnt it so that it was levelled with the ground." * 

A.D. 1247. Miles MacCostello "took the cranog of Clayonlough, 
and left a garrison there of his own men." . . . The sons of Hugh 
O'Connor united with another person to expel him, and "they took 
the crannog on the lake." t 

A.D. 1455. Turlough Macguire having gone to Loch Melge, " took 
and plundered the cranoge of MacClancy." f 

A.D, 1477. " A great wind happened on the night of the festival of 
St. John the Baptist, in this year, which destroyed an immense deal of 
stone and wooden buildings, of cranoges, and corn-stacks." f 

A.D. 1500. Hugh Eoe O'Donnell marched into Dungannon with a 
force, "demolished the old castle, and burned the crannoges of Lough 
Leary."t 

A.D. 1574. Among the principal places for stationing English 
.colonists or "gentlemen adventurers" in the county of Antrim, were 
enumerated "James MacHenry's cronnock, called Ynyshe Lockan, 
reserved to keep that ford in the Banne ;" and "Brian Caroghe's cronnock 
upon the Bann, reserved for footmen to keep that ford of the Bann." % 

A.D. 1586. " You shall do verie well to see his " (O'Neill's) " lodgings 
'in the fen, where he built his lodging, and kept his cattell and all his 
nien."§ 
I "These cronnocks were the curious wattle houses (crannog) con- 



* Extract from Annals of The Four 
Masters, in Wilde's Catalogue, p. 230. 

t Annals of the Four Masters, by 
Connellan and MacDermott. 1846. 



X Ulster Journal, IX., 251. 
§ Bagenal's Description of Ulster. 
Ulster Journal, II., 142. 

2 B 



370 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

structed on wooden piles, forming as artificial islands, the peculiar 
strongholds of the northern natives." * In their inaccessible character 
they were directly opposed to what Lord Essex intended to build, viz., 
a trading town, Belfast. 

2. — Lacustrine Habitations of Switzerland. 

In the beginning of the year 1854, the water in several of 
the Swiss lakes was unusually low, so that the neighbouring 
proprietors at Meilen, on Lake Zurich, endeavoured to reclaim 
portions of land from the lake. They discovered that, at a 
certain depth in the mud, there were the remains of numerous 
wooden piles ; and that among these were a very large number 
of implements in stone and flint, some of them mounted in 
stag's horn. Some time after, another set of piles was dis- 
covered at Mooseedorf lake, in Berne ; but in this case the 
piles projected a little above the mud. In this case, also, the 
area of the artificial structure was seen, and it was about 
seventy- five feet long and fifty wide. The objects discovered 
were of the same kind ; portions of pottery, and numerous 
implements in bone, flint, and stone. 

In the lake of JSTeufchatel, there is a place where the land 
has gained and is gaining on the lake, and a bluff or hill 
appears at the extremity of a dead level, more than a mile 
direct from the side of the lake. The intervening land has been 
gained inch by inch, and it is evident that the base of the hill, 
which appears like an island on the grassy level, has at some 
remote period been washed by the lake. About midway be- 
tween the hill and the lake, the remains of a Eoman city are 
found ; and, digging in the wet mud at the base of the hill, 

J ' DO O * 

other sets of piles are found. Thus there is prima facie 
evidence that the habitations erected on piles are about twice 
as old as the Eoman occupation. 

The houses of these people were built over lakes by piles 
driven into the bottom, where it slopes gradually into the 
\\;it< r ; and on the tops of these a flooring was laid, on which 

♦"Herbert F. Ilore, Esq., in Ulster Journal, IX., 251. 



AQUATIC HABITATIONS. 



371 



wicker cabins or huts were erected. In some places where 
piles are found, the water is twenty feet deep; it is clear 
therefore, that the piles, making allowance for tops and points, 
must have been thirty feet long. The appearances which these 
singular habitations presented would be something like that 
shown in the annexed cut. 




Lacustrine Village, from the Water. 

It need not be surprising that several of the modern Swiss 
'towns are found to be erected on alluvial deposit, and actually 
over the sites of these piled residences. 

In other instances, where large portions of the piles remain 
in the water, implements of bronze have been found, evidently 
showing a more recent occupation, and at the same time an 
advance in the arts. The theory of Mr. Thomsen of Copen- 
hagen, is thus confirmed — viz., that the period of stone and 
bone preceded that of metal, and that the bronze period pre- 
ceded that of iron. There is also unquestionable evidence, 
derivable from the proportions in which certain materials are 
found, that some places exhibit a transition state between the 
first and the second, and others a transition state between the 
second and the third. 

The manner in which these important conclusions have been 
reached, may be seen from the following mode of induction : — 

The stone of which implements are made is commonly native, hut 
a kind of flint is largely used which is not found nearer than Franco 
or Germany. The people, therefore, had some slight traffic with these 



.372 



PART III.— DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 




neighbouring parts. They comprise knife-blades, arrow and lance 
heads, saws, hammers, borers, needles, above all, hatchets and axes, of 
most various size and shape, and prepared to be fitted to handles by 
sundry ingenious devices. Now, where these alone are found, the con- 
clusion is that the village belonged to a people unacquainted with the 
use of metals; that they were of what is now familiarly denominated 
" the age of stone," But here and there, amongst the multitude of 
stone and bone objects, there is some fragment of an implement of 
metal, or an ornament of coral or amber. Ergo, the inhabitants had 
some traffic with distant parts.* 

A section, or side view, 
would shew the huts and 
piles arranged as we see 
them here. 

The size of a village, or 
the extent of the platform, 
is ascertained by the num- 
ber Of piles, Or the area Section of Lacustrine Village. 

over which they range. From the degree of concavity ex- 
hibited by the wicker-work and casing which remain, we 
ascertain the size of the circle which formed an ordinary hut; 
and from the area of the village and the size of the hut so 
determined, an inference is easily drawn as to the number of 
population who inhabited it. In the stations which remain of 
the bronze period, and indeed of each period, the piles are 
found in very different conditions. The points which remain 
in the mud are best preserved, but sometimes fifteen or twenty 
feet of water cover the tops of the highest projecting parts, yet 
hardly two shew the same degree of decay or corrosion. This is 
perhaps partly owing to an unequal action of the water, and 
partly to an unequal power of m i n a a 

resisting it. The appearance . j 1^1 Will 1| iljl/^ljljl q 
< i x 1 1 i bited by certain piles of the '%B>mM < / ' I ■ / ' ! ' 
1 1 r. >nze period is shewn here. stanuiM of rues of the b^U reriod. 



* Edinburgh Review, for July, 18G2, page 162. 



AQUATIC HABITATIONS. 373 

The manner in which, the size and shape of the Louses are 
determined is something like the following : — 

A double range of stakes is often found in a straight line from the 
mass of stakes to the shore. This denotes the bridge which connected 
the settlement with the mainland. Scattered on the silt, among the 
stakes, or close to them, lie fragments of wooden beams, roughly 
squared. These must have been part of the platform, raised on the 
stakes which supported the houses. They are, in many cases, partially 
charred by fire. The village was, therefore, destroyed by fire. Buried 
in the silt, by their side, are quantities of wattles, twisted into such 
shapes as to form part of a concave frame, work ; together with bits of 
clay casing, similarly concave. These were portions of the walls, with 
their lining, of the circular huts which we must conceive perched on 
the platforms. Among these lie lamps of matted foliage and moss, 
huge stags 5 horns, and other miscellaneous articles. These probably 
formed part of the rude furniture of the cabins.* 

jSTot unfrequently the remains of an older deposit are found 
directly underlying those of a modern one; and the inference 
is, that the hahitations were occupied, in a more civilized con- 
dition, by the descendants or the conquerors of those who had 
occupied them in a less civilized condition. It is not im- 
probable that many of the older remains may yet be recovered, 
either apart or lying under implements of iron and of bronze. 

These remarks will afford a specimen of the facts which 
have come to light, and of the mode in which they have been 
compelled to tell their story. They are intended to be merely 
suggestive, however, and to induce readers to turn to other 
works in which they will find full information. These relics, 
and the mode in which they were discovered, have shed a new 
light on archceology, and have shewn how, in this department 
of knowledge as in others, philosophic inquiry can put speech 
into the most unpromising materials, and induce them to read 
us new lessons in history, ethnology, and science.f 

The following objects have been found in the lake habitations 



* Edinburgh Review, for July, 18G2, 
pp. 161, 162. 

t Troyon's Habitations Lacustrcs; 



Ulster Journal of Archaeology, Vols. 
VII. and VIII.; and Edinburgh Re- 
view, No. 2 '•"•>. 



374 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THK OBJECTS. 

of Switzerland. They are arranged like two similar series, 
in the order of our Plates, to show the reader the degree of 
correspondence. 

(1.) Fibulce. (Plate IV.) — One of brass wire, wanting acus ; one 

apparently iron wire ; and bronze fibulae, various. 
(2.) Hasps. (Plate IX.)— One of bronze ; see p. 110. 
(3.) Strap Ornaments. (Plate XII.) — Bronze, various, curiously 

stamped ; see p. 131. 
(4.) Bosses and Studs. (Plate XIII.) — Button of bronze; bronze 
studs, various ; bronze button of modern shape, with eye ; 
brouze shield plate ; gold hemispherical stud, engraved. 
(5.) Spindle- Whorls. (Plate XIV.) — Stone discs like quoits ; and 
stone spindle-whorls. Some have a groove running round 
the edge like a pulley ; and the same construction is shown in 
the broken bead, Plate XV., fig. 7. 
(6.) Beads. (Plate XV.) — Beads of bronze and glass, bone and horn ; 
animal's teeth, &c, strung to form similar pendent ornaments. 
(7.) Horse Furniture. (Plate XVI.) — Iron bridle-bits. 
(8.) Knives. (Plate XVII.) — Knives of bronze and iron, the former 
numerous, and occasionally very beautiful ; a curved semi- 
circular knife of bronze, like that used by British Druids for 
cutting the mistletoe ; and a bone knife. 
(9.) Iron Keys. (Plate XVIII.)— A crooked key like that on XIX. A., 

fig. 4. 
(10.) Arrows, <&c. (Plate XXI.)— Bone arrow-heads ; flint ditto ; 
flint kniyes. 
Spears. (Plate XXI.) — Spear-heads, bronze and iron; iron 
fish-spear or trident, with a fluke at each point. Barbed spear 
of stag's horn. 
(11.) Needles. (Plate XXII.) — Bronze needles, various ; bone ditto ; 
see pp. 215, 216,217. 
Piercers. (Plate XXII.) — Piercers of copper and bronze, round 
and square ; brouze hair-pins ; bodkins of bone, numerous. 
(12.) Pins. (Plate XXIII.) — Pins of bronze, some of them with 
richly ornamented heads, others plain, ditto bone. 
Tweezers. (Plate XXIII.) -Tweezers, iron. 
(13.) Rings, various. (Plate XXIV.)— Small rings, bronze ; finger- 
rings, bone. 
Bronze bracelets ; ditto, very curious ; fragment of boue bracelet. 
Bronze ferrule. 
Brouze girdle. 



AQUATIC HABITATIONS. 375 

(14.) Ear-rings. (Plate XXV.) — Bronze, plain (see woodcut p. 249) ; 

Ditto, very curious. 
(15.) Fish-hooks. (Plate XXVI.)— Bronze, in great variety, single 
and double, large and small. 
Scissors. (Plate XXVI.) — Iron, of the usual type. 
(16.) Musket-rest. (Plate XXIX.) — Iron fork, resembling; see p. 182. 
Swords. (Plate XXIX.) — Bronze, various ; some leaf-shaped, 
with elegant hilts of the same material, and some for attach- 
ment to wooden handles. 
Daggers. (Plate XXIX.) — Bronze daggers ; daggers of bone, 
made of the shank- bone, cleft, then cut and shaped like a 
stiletto, seven to thirteen inches long. One has a hilt of 
stag's horn. 
Chatellaines. (Plate XXIX.) — Bronze girdle-hangers, and 

chatellaine pieces, various. 
Collar. (Plate XXIX.) — Bronze gorgets in great variety. 
(17.) Stone Implements. (Plate XXX.) — Flint scrapers and a saw ; 
flint flakes, some hafted like knive3 ; flint arrow points. Stone 
mallets, often broken at the hole, which had been bored with an 
instrument in form of a truncated cone ; a cube of stone, like 
a weight or hammer ; chisels for engraving, like the green- 
stone one from New Zealand (see p. 208 ri) ; whetstones, grind- 
stones ; anvil ; cups or bowls apparently turned out of each 
other by a hard point, like wooden dishes ; almond-shaped 
celts ; disc-shaped stones, like those placed between axles of 
quernstones ; and numerous fragments showing the process 
of manufacture. 
Wood Implements. (Plate XXX.) — Canoes, each formed out of 
a single trunk of oak, with an elevated portion at each end 
for a seat. These are still left in the water, as they would be 
destroyed by drying and shrinking. 
(18.) Tottery. (Plate XXI.) — Rude pottery, various ; elegant pottery 
also. There are holes at opposite sides of the top in some, 
apparently for suspending them over the fire, instead of placing 
them on a trivet. 
Kings of pottery for sustaining vessels with rounded or conical 
bottoms. 
(19.) Animal Remains. (Plate XXXII.) — [Unmanufactured.] — 
Bones of the ox, goat, sheep, pig, and dog, are numerous ; but 
those of the horse very rare. Bones of fishes and of the 
beasts of chase also occur. 



376 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

[Manufactured.] — These are very numerous, and several kin ts 
have been mentioned under the previous heads. To these 
may be added teeth set as chisels, in stag's horn, and some 
used as polishers ; hammers of stag's horn, like that found in 
Cheshire ; chisels of bone and stag's horn, for soft materials 
(like our bone, ivory, and wood paper-knives), a piece of stag's 
horn, with a point of fliut, like the point of a nail (apparently 
an engraver), and numerous objects, the uses of which are 
undetermined. 

The theory which we are considering supposes the habita- 
tions on the sea-coast of Cheshire to have been formed in the 
same way ; but it must not be forgotten that it applies only to 
inland lakes, and not to maritime situations. These erections 
are also in sheltered situations, for basins of water are sur- 
rounded by hills more or less elevated ; whereas such habita- 
tions on the seashore would be exposed to the fury of the two 
elements, wind and water, besides the treachery of the land ; 
and neither they nor even their subaqueous foundations could 
survive a very few of our usual winter storms. Thus, the 
theory is set aside, as not coming within the usual conditions, 
and as being practically impossible. Nor has there been 
the slightest evidence afforded, in any of the relics which have 
come to light, of either stakes, or platform, or wicker-work, or 
clay casing ; or of successive grades of civilization, or of the 
retreat of vanquished tribes, and the entrance of victorious 
ones. In short, so far as the Cheshire shore is concerned, it is 
a gratuitous assumption. 

But it should be borne in mind that similar relics, in largo 
numbers, were discovered on the Hoyle Bank; * and that if 
we regard this fact as beyond dispute, it becomes the basis of 
several future inferences. The remarks respecting exposure 
apply as before ; but the conditions of safety from the enemies 
chiefly to be dreaded — the human race — are wholly different 
At the earliest period to which out antiquities belong; the 
Boyle Bank was not only one, hut elevated. I have never been 

* See p. 48. 



DESTRUCTION OF ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS. 377 

able to see the map which is alleged to exist in Mostyn Hall, 
Flintshire, which represents cattle as grazing on it ; but, as it 
was never wholly covered in the seventeenth century except 
at spring tides, one can suppose that some portion of it was 
insular — viz., the elevated end next Meols. There would be 
no access to the inhabitants except by a canoe or boat ; and 
their only enemies would be those possessing similar accom- 
modation. In such a case, a few stockades may or may not 
have been erected, to provide against a sudden assault. 

I do not attach much importance to this explanation, because, 
after all, it is possible that no antiquities were ever actually 
found on the Hoyle Bank. In the indefinite descriptions of 
persons who are not minutely acquainted with the locality, a 
known spot is assigned rather than an unknown one ; or the 
expression " near," in the course of transmission, glides into 
" at " or " on." But even the very suggestion of such a set of 
facts is not without interest; for it has directed our attention 
to a curious and important class of facts. 



Ill .—DESTRUCTION OF ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS. 

The following specimens, which are not selected as being 
in every respect the most remarkable, and which might be 
largely increased in number, will serve to show the changes 
which time makes even in some of our large towns. A few 
inland specimens are selected, and a few maritime ones, in 
both of which it seems as if a certain amount of fashion had 
prevailed. When a place obtains the reputation of increasing 
rapidly it becomes popularised, and mankind are anxious to 
share in its alleged prosperity. But when, on the contrary, it 
is said to be " going down," * suspicion is excited, and even 



* I once passed through a deserted 
town in the twilight of a summer 
evening. It was Stratford-on-Slaney, 

in the county of Wicklow, which was 



mcr Earl of Aldborough. At that 
time there were extensive calico 
printing-works established in the 

neighbourhood, and it w»s thought 



built about thirty years ago bv a for- that it might become .1 manufacturing 



378 



PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 



those who felt sufficiently comfortable, become inclined to 
retire from it. 

1. — Inland Towns. 

(1.) Uriconium. — This was an ancient city on the borders of 
"Wales; and it was a Eoman station of no small importance so 
early as the second century. In the fifth century it was one 
of the largest towns in the island. It suffered, however, from 
the incursions of the barbarians about the period of the arrival 
of the Saxons, and before they had reached this westerly point. 
It is supposed that it was utterly destroyed, and its inhabitants 
put to the sword, about the year 450 ; and so completely was 
it obliterated that its identity with the modern Wroxeter was 
not suspected. Nothing remained but a portion of an old wall 
above ground, and the place had assumed the name of " Old 
Walls." It has been disinterred since 1859, and has attracted 
great attention, not only from archseologists but from the public 
generally. Of course, however, only a small portion has been 
shown, of a town which was three miles in circumference. 

(2.) Old Sarum. — Like the town of Dunwich, shortly to be 
noticed, this place was inhabited in succession by Britons, 
Romans, and Saxons ; and, at the period of the Heptarchy, it 
was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Wessex. During 
the early part of our English history it was one of the most 
important towns in the kingdom, having been fortified by 
order of King Alfred, and wittenagemotes having been held 
within it. It shared, however, in the misfortunes of the period, 
having been devastated by the Danes under Sweyn, in 1003. 
After the Conquest it became the seat of the bishopric, because 
it was a fortified city ; and in 1086, on the completion of the 
Domesday Survey, the various grades of nobility were sum- 
moned there to meet the king. It is unnecessary to give more 



town. It contained, at one time, 
nearly a thousand inhabitants, and 
about nine hundred from the town 
and the adjoining neighbourhood were 
Employed in the works. In 18J2 there 



were but a few of the cottages occu- 
pied, and I noticed a light in only 
one. The majority had begun to 
show marked symptoms of decay. 



DESTRUCTION OF ANCIENT SETTLEMENTS. 379 

than an outline of its history. Owing to a scarcity of water, 
and frequent disputes between the civil and military authori- 
ties, the see was removed to Salisbury in 1217, and from this 
period we may date its decline and fall. A few houses re- 
mained to the time of Henry VIII., and service was performed 
in the chapel of the deserted cathedral, but now nothing re- 
mains. From the 34th Edward III., till the passing of the 
Eeforni bill, it sent two members to parliament, and the six 
or seven burgesses, to whom alone the franchise belonged, 
conducted the election under the branches of a spreading-tree. 

(3.) Roxburgh. — This was, at one time, the fourth city in all 
Scotland, in population and importance. It was a borough, 
with the usual adjuncts of provost, bailies, and town-council. 
It had several churches and hospitals, and was particularly 
celebrated for its schools and its nourishing markets. It had 
also a large castle for the protection of the town and neigh- 
bourhood, and at its market-cross proclamations were made 
so recently as 1516. 

It was found, however, that both English and Scotch feared 
that the castle might afford protection to their opponents, and 
thus it attracted the very dangers which it was intended to 
avert, until population gradually withdrew from an un- 
comfortable neighbourhood and sought situations of less 
pretension but of more security. Its present history may be 
written in a few sentences. 

"Of the town not a stone remains to mark its site, and were it not 
for the evidence derive* I from history, charters, and other documents, 
it might well be doubted whether on the fields in which cattle now 
graze, or which are carefully tilled by the husbandman, a powerful 
city once flourished. A small portion of the ruins of the castle remains 
to mnrk the place where, in former days, kings held their courts, and 
where the nobles of either kingdom performed deeds of valour in the 
battle-field, or called forth the admiration of the spectator in the 
tournament. . . . Doubts are entertained by many as to the exact 
site of the town."* 



Jeffrey's History and Antiquities of Roxburghshire. 



380 part iii— deposition of thb objects. 

2. — Mabitime Towns. 

(1.) Ravenspur. — Our English histories record that, more 
than four hundred and sixty-four years ago, the future Henry 
IV. of England landed at Eavenspur, in Yorkshire. We look 
in vain for such a place on any modern map, but we learn 
from historians and geologists that the sea has washed away a 
large portion of the coast in that neighbourhood, amounting, 
as some suppose, to several miles, since the time of the Eomans. 
The promontory of Spurn Head still remains, indicating the 
locality, and the nearest village to it is that of Kilnsea, which 
is even now gradually disappearing. Its old churchyard has 
been nearly removed, and its parish church of St. Helen, which 
was deserted some years ago, has fallen into ruins. 

(2.) Formby. — It is said that, in 1745, some of the military 
who occupied South Lancashire during the invasion of the 
Eretender, were quartered in the ancient village of Eormby. 
This place, which has been already alluded to, page 17 n, is 
distant about nine miles from Liverpool, on the north shore. 
In 1787 only one cottage remained on the borders of the 
ancient graveyard, aDd the old man who occupied it said that 
his father's house originally stood almost in the centre of the 
town. The desertion of the place had, therefore, occurred du- 
ring the life of one man. He stated that in his boyhood he had 
often jumped clown from the pier to the decks of vessels which 
lay below, receiving or discharging their cargoes. The present 
condition is, that the village, with its church and churchyard, 
are situated nearly a mile and a half inland ; that mountains 
of drift sand, held together of late years by star-grass planted 
upon them, cover the site of the village, enclosing the an- 
cient graveyard like a lake embosomed among hills. It is 
several feet below the ordinary surface of the ground, and is 
only kept clear by great exertions. Though numerous trunks 
of large trees are found under high-water mark, as on the 
Cheshire coast, scarcely a shrub flourishes now in the Vicinity 
of the sand; and, as memorials of the former town, the sandy 



DUNWICH. 



881 



lanes, iu which it is extremely difficult to walk, are called by 
the names of streets, as Church street, Duke street, &c. Ves- 
sels of every size shun the coast, both on account of its dangers 
and its desolation. The township of Eavens Meols is men- 
tioned in the Domesday Survey, * but a large portion of it has 
been - thus obliterated. The name, however, is still preserved, 
and a little church was erected for the benefit of the farmers 
and cottagers near the shore, about four years ago. 

(3.) Dumrich. — The case of this town is so important, and 
its circumstances resemble so closely those of Meols in Che- 
shire, that it has been thought desirable to treat the subject 
in some detail. It is, therefore, separately referred to in the 
following chapter. 



IV.-DUNWICH. 
1. — Its History. 

This town is situated in the county of Suffolk, on the margin 
of the German Ocean. It is supposed to have been an ancient 
British settlement, and in all probability it was actually so ; 
while the objects of Eoman manufacture and use found there, 
leave no doubt as to its occupation by that people also. 

During the time of the Heptarchy it was the capital of the 
kingdom of East Anglia, and became the seat of a bishop,-)- a.d. 
630. It remained as such for more than 450 years, when the 
see was finally transferred to Norwich. % 



* Three thanes held Fornebei for iii 
manors. There are four carucates of 
land. It was worth x shillings. . 
Wibert held Erenger Meles. There 
are ii carucates of land. It was worth 
viii shillings. This land was quit (of 
every tax) except the gelt. 

t Bede, chap. xvi. ; and Flor. 
Wigiorn, a.d. 636. 

X After about half a century the 
see was divided into Elmham and 
Dunwich, which were reunited about 



the middle of the tenth century ; 
and in the year 1094 the united 
diocese took the name of Norwich. 
Bishop Alfhun (Sax. Chron., a.d. 
697) and others were buried here. 
There is a list of the bishops given 
in the appendix to the Chronicle of 
Florence of Worcester, from which 
it appears that there were three 
bishops of East Anglia, eleven of 
Dunwich only, and eighteen of Elm- 
bam and Dunwich united. The 



382 



PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 



During the incursions of the Danes it bore a part in the 
sufferings of the eastern coast, having been devastated by 
them ; but after the Conquest, in the time of the Domesday- 
Survey, it contained 236 burgesses, 100 poor, and had a her- 
ring fishery yielding annually more than 60,000 fish. In the 
time of Eichard I., a fine levied on it for selling corn to the 
king's enemies was more than five times as great as the fines 
levied on Ipswich and Yarmouth respectively, which had 
committed the same offence. In the time of Edward I., when 
it was erected into a parliamentary borough, it was a flourish- 
ing seaport, and furnished eleven ships of war. 

It is recorded that at one time there were upwards of fifty 
religious foundations in the city, including .churches, chapels, 
priories, hospitals, &c. Of its numerous parish churches not 
one now remains. In Sir Henry Spelman's * time the foun- 
dations of several of the churches and outlines of the church- 
yards were still visible, viz., those of St. Michael, St. Mary, 
St. Martin, St. John, St. Peter, and St. Nicholas. The church 
of All Saints remained longest, but is now a roofless building, 
and its churchyard will soon be swept away piecemeal by the 
sea. It was rebuilt at some distance inland in 1826. In the 
time of Camden, the borough was regarded as ruinous ; for he 
says : — 

Now, by a private pique of Nature (which hath set no bounds to the 
incursions of the Sea), the greatest part of it is swept away by the vio- 
lence of the waves . . . and it lyes now in solitude and desolation. 

Its present condition may be stated thus. Its existence as 
a parliamentary borough, which it had maintained from the 
time of Edward I., was terminated by the Eeform bill ; and 
its mayor and corporation, whose special privileges date back 
to the time of king John, have also passed away. Of its moat 



chronicler seems not to be aware of 
the reason for the removal of the see, 
for he says — "Perierunt jamdudum 
episcopatus Ithipcnsis (llipon), et 
llaugustaldcnsis (Hexham), vi hos- 



tilitatis ; Legacestrensis (Chester), 
et Sidnacestrensis (Gainsborough oi 
Stow), et Dommocensis (Dunwich) 
nescio quo modo." 

* Gibson's Camden, 380. 



DUNWICH. 383 

and square earthen fortifications scarcely any traces remain ; 
and the metropolis of an ancient kingdom is now a village 
with about 300 inhabitants.* The ancient Episcopal seat 
does not now possess even the dignity of a parish, as it is a 
mere chapelry. Its area consists of 1130 acres of land, and 
335 water. 

2. — Points of Coeeespondence with Meols. 

(1.) The town was built on a hill of sand and loam, not 
unlike the sand and turf-bog on the Cheshire coast ; so that the 
tide gradually washed it away. Sometimes it presented to the 
sea a steep grassy bank, but, after an unusually high tide and 
storm, nothing remained but a perpendicular earthen cliff. 

(2.) The sea and land .seem to give and take as on the 
coast of Cheshire, for while one part is carried away, sand is 
silted up in another place; so that over what was once the 
haven of Dunwich there is pasture ground for cattle. Mins- 
mere level in the neighbourhood was first a marsh, and is 
now meadow land. 

(3.) The objects are found after a particular conjunction of 
winds and tides, the water having washed away the soluble 
earth, and having left the metallic objects remaining. 

(4.) They are in general picked up by fishermen and others 
idling on the shore ; and vast numbers have no doubt been lost, 
as in former years at Cheshire, from want of appreciation of 
their value, or of care in their preservation. 

3. — Details of Inteeest. 
The objects discovered are like our own — Eoman, Saxon, 
and Mediaeval, constituting a miscellaneous collection of great 
variety and interest. I had the opportunity of inspecting a 
number of them in London in 1859, and was so much struck 
with their resemblance to the objects procured in our own 
neighbourhood, that I could easily have fancied them to be 
part of a find on the Cheshire coast. They*f embraced the 

* In 1801 its population was 184, i t ArchacologicalJournal, XV., 154, 
and in 1851,294. | 155. 



384 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

following objects ; but the list is of course imperfect, and in- 
tended to be merely suggestive. I have arranged them in the 
order of the chapters and plates in this volume, so that the 
reader may have an opportunity of comparison. 

(1.) Fibulas, Roman. — One was small and bowed, like those 
on our Plate III., figs. 1 — 7. 

(2.) Brooches, Circular. (Plate Y.) — One of these was silver, 
and the rest bronze. Others resembled what we have desig- 
nated " Buckle brooches," (Plate VI.) Several mediaeval ones 
were very elegant. One resembles ours, Plate VI., fig. 12, but 
has places for the insertion of stones or paste, like fig. 3 on the 
same plate. 

(3.) Buckles. (Plates VII., VIIL, IX.) — As in our own case, 
these were the most numerous class of objects, amounting to 
about forty in all. This is about one-tenth of the number 
procured in Cheshire. Some had shanks or attachments, and 
others had none ; and, as in our own case, hardly two were 
similar in size or design. 

(4.) Tags or Strap Ends. (Plate XL)— These were all of 
brass or bronze, and were very numerous. 

(5.) Leather Ornaments. — The variety exhibited here as well 
as the number, was much less than in our own case. Still, 
there were numerous pieces of metal stamped in relief, like 
those which we have designated " Plates," page 129. These 
are all supposed to have been attached to belts and other 
leathern parts of the dress and equipments. 

At page 135 [a] we have noticed several small shields, some 
of them plain, but one bearing an armorial device. These were 
supposed to nave been attached to the arms and dress of re- 
tainers. A shield of that kind was found at Dunwich about 
one inch long, with the royal arms upon it, and is supposed to 
have belonged to the fourteenth century. 

(6.) Bosses and Studs. — Under the general name, "plal 
metal," given in his description by the Rev. Greville J. Chester, 
no doubt bosses and studs were included ; but, as the objects 



DUNWICH. 385 

were much less numerous than ours, so the classification is 
not so minute. 

(7.) Keys. (Plates XVIII. XIX. XIXA., XIXB.)— These 
were very numerous, and were chiefly of bronze. Some are 
supposed to belong to the Eoman period, and probably are of 
that date. One which is figured in the Archaeological Journal, 
vol. XV., p. 155, resembles the well known Chinese key, such 
as is shown here, Plate XIXB., fig. 6. 

(8.) Pins, Large and Small (Plates XXII., XXIII.)— These 
were found of various shapes and sizes, and of various degrees 
of antiquity. 

(9.) Rings. (Plates XXIV., XXV.)— Several of these were 
found, supposed to be Saxon and mediaeval. 

(10.) Seals. (Plate XXVII.) — A circular brass matrix, three 
quarters of an inch in diameter, with a bird, supposed to be an 
eagle, retrogardant ; after a cross come the words, crede mihi : 
it is supposed to be of the fourteenth century. Thomas 
Gardner, who wrote a history of Dunwich more than a hun- 
dred years ago, possessed at that time sixty-five seals, all 
" found hereabouts." 

(11.) Pilgrim Signs. (Plate XXVII.)— There was found a 
leaden pouch or ampulla, such as were distributed to pilgrims 
who had visited certain shrines. On one side is a scallop 
shell ; and on the other a branch over the letter R Four or 
five others have been found ; and they are known in various 
parts of England, though they do not appear to be found in 
Cheshire. I 

(12.) Coins. (Plate XXVII.) — In addition to one or two 
Eoman coins, there are those of the following reigns, Henry IL, 
Henry III., Edward I., Edward II., Edward III., Henry IV, 
Henry V., Henry VI., Henry VII., Henry VIIL, together 
with Scotch coins, and one of Charles, Count of Anjou. There 
was a mint at Dunwich. Several of the earliest English 
coins, namely — those of Henry II. and Henry III. — are cut 
into halves and quarters, like those shown on our own Plate, 

2 i 



38G PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

fiss. 11 and 12 ; and some of the Scottisli coins are divided in 
like manner. 

(13.) Tradesmen s Tokens; — Of these we possess a few local 
examples. One is of brass, with a rude shield upon it, and 
the others are all of lead. 

(14.) Pottery. (Plate XXXI.)— At about five feet from the 
top of the bank, or below the surface of the ground, several 
specimens of coarse pottery were found; blue, black, and 
brown. Some were Eoman, and others perhaps Saxon. In 
one case the fragments nearly formed a complete urn. 

(15.) Animal Remains. (Plate XXXII.) — Two human 
skeletons were found projecting from the face of the cliff, as 
skeletons are found on our own coast in the black earth ; and 
two others were found on the shore. It is natural to expect 
that human bones will be more abundant there than in our 
neighbourhood, as the churchyards are still in -the process of 
removal, whereas our one burying-ground (see page 16) lay 
far beneath the tide. Of bones of the inferior animals, there 
are those of the ox, s^ieep, deer, &c, besides numerous teeth. 

(16.) A stone, being part of a building of considerable 
architectural pretensions,, was dredged out of the sea. It was 
found three quarters of a mile from the shore, and in ten 
fathoms water. 



Y CONCLUSION. 

1. — Inferences from the Domesday Survey. 

On identifying the places with those mentioned in tine 
Domesday Survey, we are struck by the peculiarity of the- 
geographical arrangement ; and as this has never been noticed 
before, so far as I. am aware, I here draw attention to it * 

The whole line of coast, from the Mersey to the Dee, 
appears to have been minutely known ; not a single township 



* The materials are taken from the 
Extension and Translation of the 
part referring to Cheshire and Lanca- 



shire, hy Willliam I'eamout, Esq., of 
Warm) Lit on. 



CONCLUSION. 387 

being omitted. For example, we have Wallasey, Great Meols, 
and Little Meols, the first and second of which nearly occupy 
the whole end of the peninsula, while the third is merely the 
angle or corner at the mouth of the Dee. A portion of each 
of them was comprised in the Wallasey Leasowes, and formed 
part of the race-course, of which nearly one half has been 
carried away. It is not unlikely that they were originally 
separated by a rivulet which connected the waters of the 
inland marsh with the tides ; and, as these waters were also 
connected with Wallasey Pool, the parish of Wallasey was 
practically insulated.- The original settlement, no doubt, 
occupied the highest ground on the south-western side of this 
channel, or the very portion which we assign to the extinct 
town. At present, the portion of Great Meols township which 
adjoins Wallasey, consists of a narrow strip of sand and marsh 
near the embankment ; from which it is clear that much of the 
actual territory lay to seaward, or forming a peninsula between 
the tide and the in-shore lagoon. Of the township of Hoose 
there is no mention ; and its absence is significant. The 
derivation which we previously gave (page 6) is thus con- 
firmed ; that it is an area won from the " hoes " or sandhills. 
This may account for the fact that it was till lately extra- 
parochial. 

Commencing at the mouth of the Dee we have Caldy men- 
tioned in two sections, one of which answers to the modern 
" Grange ; " also Thurstaston, Heswell, and Gayton, here 
recorded in order. Greasby, which is more inland, is also 
mentioned. Continuing our progress up the Dee, we have 
Leighton, Great Neston, Little Neston, Hargreave, and Ness 
noticed; with Ledsham, Raby, and Thornton Hough, more 
inland. The township of Willaston is not specially named ; 
but at that time it gave name to the whole hundred, which was 
called Willaveston. The parish of Shot wick is noticed with 

* Its original name, Kirkby-in- | the woody island. 
Walley, means the church- house in 



388 FAIiT III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

its included townships of Saughall and Capenhurst, but both 
Burton and Puddington are omitted. Thus it will be seen 
that from the walls of Chester to little Meols, at the mouth 
of the Dee, every important place was accurately known at 
the Conquest, and that the places which now constitute modern 
townships were also well known over most of the interior of 
the peninsula 

Commencing at the mouth of the Mersey, we find Wallasey 
the first and almost the last ; for there is no notice of either 
Iiscard or Poulton-with-Seacombe, nor of Birkenhead, Tran- 
mere, Bebbington, Hooton, Netherpool, Childer-Thornton, or 
Whitby. We find, on the contrary, that the places a little more 
inland were known and are recorded ; as Storeton and Poulton- 
cum-Spital, also Eastham, Overpool, and the two Suttons. 

Thus it appears that the Cheshire bank of the Mersey, which 
has almost become a continuous town in our own days, was 
practically unknown ; consisting probably of marsh and wood- 
land not appropriated, and comparatively valueless. The 
productive portions of any of these would be included within 
the indefinite and shifting limits of some of the others named. 
Advancing to the parish of Woodchurch, we find its northern 
townships (including Woodchurch, Arrow, Oxton, and Pensby) 
unnoticed, with the single exception of Emocktorum ; while 
the southern townships, Prenton, Landican, Thingwall, and 
Barnston, are known. One can well understand this, as even 
in our own time the northern portion of the hundred, and of 
this parish, is very uninviting. It is thus described by the 
historian of Cheshire — 

" Cheshire possesses no parish of similar extent, that has fewer claims 
to attention and interest, than Woodchurch ; a district which appears as 
if it had come unfinished from the hands of nature, and is certainly 
under very little obligation to the improvements of man. It occupies 
the centre of the northern part of the peninsula, and presents an 
appearance bare, moorish, and cheerless, but never rising into the wild 
or the picturesque." * 

* Onncvod's Hist. Chesh., II., 286. 



CONCLUSION. 389 

Of the entire parish of Bidston, containing upwards of 4000 
acres, and comprising Bidston-cum-Ford, Claughton-cum- 
Grange, Moreton-cum-Lingham, and Saughall Massey, not a 
single place is named. At the time of the survey, it must 
have possessed the characteristics of Woodchurch in an un- 
usual degree ; as within its limits falls most of the area shown 
on the map within a dotted line. This consists of nearly 3000 
acres, lying below the level of high- water, great part of which 
is still a marsh appropriated as grazing land during the sum- 
mer, and unsuitable for the purposes of cultivation. 

The following is the extended account of three townships 
at the end of the peninsula, from Mr. Beamont's translation 
referred to above : — 

Little Meols. The same Eobert holds Melas. Levenot had it. There 
is one hide rateable to the gelt. The land is iii carucates. One 
radman and iii villeins and iii bordars have i carucate. In King 
Edward's time it was worth x shillings, and after viii shillings, now 
xii shillings. 

Great Meols. The same Eobert holds Melas. Levenot held it. There 
is one hide rateable to the gelt. The land is one carucate and a half. 
One radman and ii villeins and ij bordars have one carucate there. In 
King Edward's time it was worth xv shillings now x shillings. He 
(the Earl) found it waste. 

Wallasey. The same Eobert holds Wallea. Uctred held it, and was 
a freeman. There is one hide and a half rateable to the gelt. The 
land is iv carucates. (There are) one villein and i bordar there with 
half a carucate, and one foreigner has one carucate with ii neatherds 
and i radman and i bordar. 

It appears from this, that at the time of Edward the Con- 
fessor, Great Meols was half as valuable again as Little 
Meols ; but that, in the short period of about thirty years, 
their relative and absolute condition had greatly altered. 
Little Meols had lost in value 20 per cent., and had then not 
merely recovered but gained 20 per cent. ; while Great Meols, 
the locality of our antiquities, had sunk in value 33 per cent., 
and not recovered at all. As the Earl of Chester found it 
waste, it is not improbable that the great natural changes of 



390 PART III. — DEPOSITION OP THE OBJECTS. 

condition had taken place in the interval, e. g., the wasting 
away or sinking of part of the coast, and the ingress of the 
blowing sands. Snch phenomena are well known upon 
various parts of our coast, as at Perranzabuloe, in Cornwall, 
where the ancient church was buried in sand, or Forvee, on 
the north coast of Scotland, where, in a terrific storm of nine 
days' duration, the entire parish was covered by sand and 
destroyed.* 

2.— General Inferences. 

1. The coast formerly projected much farther to seaward. 
This is not a matter of opinion, but a demonstrable fact. The 
evidence on which the statement is founded may be briefly 
given thus : — 

(a.) The showing of ancient maps. 

(5.) The testimony of historic records. 

(c.) A considerable portion of a race-course has been removed. 

(d.) A public road has been broken up and rendered useless. 

(e.) A burial-place has been carried away. 

(/.) It has been found necessary to build a large embank- 
ment against the sea. 

(g.) Notwithstanding this, its inroads upon the land have 
taken place so recently as the present year, 1863. 

2. The following facts may be stated in corroboration : — 
(a.) To seaward of the present cultivated land and sandhills 

are found the remains, not of one, but of several forests, 
of different growths, with their roots imbedded in the 
soil in which they flourished. 

(&.) Traces of cultivation exist, under the mounds of sand, 
to the very margin of the tide ; proving that even cultiva- 
tion extended to seaward of the present water-line. 

(c.) The remains of an ancient house, like the Hall or 
proprietary mansion of the neighbourhood, existed till 
within the last century; and portions of buildings still 
standing, contain some of its materials worked up in them. 

* Pratt's History of Bucluin, p. 245. 



CONCLUSION. 391 

(d.) An ancient well, or spring of fresh water, rises far within 
the area covered by the tide ; and tradition asserts that 
it was formerly covered by a brick archway, and that it 
was last used by the attendants on the lighthouse which 
has been obliterated. 

3. The oldest or Koman articles are found in the upper 
stratum of the old forest turf, among the trunks and roots of 
trees ; but their range is extremely limited, and they are found 
chiefly to the eastward of Dove Point. From this it is evident 
that the earliest inhabitants of Meols established themselves 
on the side next the lighthouse. 

4. The pre-historic or purely British objects are so few in 
number that this can never have been a British station ; 
though, no doubt, wandering tribes of several kinds passed 
over it in primitive times. 

5. The Eoman objects, though among the oldest, are still so 
numerous as to be consistent only with the theory that there 
was an important station here. When the land projected 
further out, it gave them a full view of a long range of coast. Sir 
Charles Lyell mentions a tradition respecting Dunwich, that 
the tailors could sit in their shops there, and see the ships 
entering Yarmouth bay. So the Eoman centurion may have 
stood upon the coast of ancient Meols, and seen the galleys of 
his countrymen sail clown Chester water. Turning to the 
west, they passed along the Cambrian coast ; or to the east, 
round Hilbre, through Heye-pol, and past his own point of 
observation. 

6. There appears to have been a high sandy promontory, of 
which the Dove Spit is all that now remains ; and, owing 
to the force of frequent strong tides, it is gradually dimin- 
ishing. On this promontory ancient Meols was no doubt 
situated; and the unsubstantial materials of which it was 
composed, like the hill of Dunwich, presented facilities for its 
destruction. The inhabitants literally realized the effects of 
building their houses upon the sand. This elevation, of what- 



392 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

ever height, appears to have been covered with trees, in the 
shelter of which they wandered, and near which their cottages 
were placed. And as we find, in various parts of England, 
that the ancient Eoman roads were used by the Saxons, and 
in many instances continue to form the leading lines of com- 
munication to our own times, so the village, the seashore, the 
woodland paths, the burying-ground, &c, were used not only 
by successive generations, but by successive peoples. This 
accounts for the finding of objects differing in nationality as 
well as in date, within the narrow limits under investigation. 

9. But the more modern objects are found further westward, 
certain Saxon examples, chiefly coins, being found nearly a 
mile to the west, and on the clay ; thus showing a gradual 
change of residence in the direction of the Dee, owing no 
doubt to such physical causes as those we are considering. 

10. The articles which belong more strictly to modern his- 
toric times — e. g., to the sixteenth, seventeenth, eighteenth, and 
nineteenth centuries — are found nearer to the village of Hoy- 
lake, or still further removed from the original Eoman posi- 
tion. Thus, keeping to seaward of the present water-line, we 
trace the course of habitation from the eastern side of Dove 
Point to the village of Hoylake. 

11. The island of Hilbre (Hilbury, Ilbre, or Helburgh) 
possesses an interest of its own. It was a Saxon cell of monks 
of the Benedictine order ; and the access to it was usually by 
Chester, both in going and returning. In later times it held 
communication by ship across the Dee, or over the Constable's 
sands. Several Saxon objects have been found at or near it, 
including the cross, p. 267, and a few Eoman objects; but, 
though these are enumerated here, they were in some degree 
unconnected with the village of Meols, and with the objects 
found there. 

12. The Danes were familiar with this part of the country, 
and probably ravaged its coasts, as they did in oilier parts of 
England ; but from the manner in which Scandinavian and 



CONCLUSION. 393 

Saxon local names are blended on the estuary of the Dee, and 
indeed all along the coast of Lancashire and Cheshire, it is 
clear that they formed peaceful settlements among the people, 
and exercised productive industry. In the parish of West 
Kirkby, they found an unusual number of enclosed fields ; * 
and of course agriculture, in a progressive state, even in that 
unpromising situation. 

13. The incursion of the Danes, however, could not have 
effected much injury; for we find that most of the relics 
belong to dates subsequent to that period ; and it is some- 
times impossible to say when an object belonged to the Saxon 
members of the great continental family, and when to the 
Danish members. 

14. At the time of the Domesday Survey, Great Meols 
appears to have been recently sanded up ; and it possessed 
then only about thirty acres of arable land, in connection with 
which five families are mentioned. One of these was a rad- 
man (roadster or carrier) ; two others were labourers ; and the 
remaining two were tenants paying in kind, or furnishing 
animal food for the table of the proprietor. It would certainly 
appear as if the inhabitants had just then shifted westward, in 
the direction of Little Meols ; for there was there twice as much 
land uninjured, and the labourers and tenants were three and 
three respectively. 

15. The neat-herds of Wallasey, who exercised their vocation 
in the days of the Conqueror, have their representatives at the 
present hour ; but the radman with his pack-horse no longer 
plunges through the sandy roads of Caldy, Thurstaston, and 
Heswall, to the region of civilization at Chester. His craft 
has been superseded by the proprietors of well-appointed 
omnibuses, by farmers with their carts, and by one or two 
carriers. 

16. Bradshaw the poet, quoted p. 27, shows that in the reign 
of the first Henry, the Dee was a well-frequented river ; that 

* Sec Remarks on the termination " hey," p. 39. 



394 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

numerous ships, such as the time furnished, lay at its mouth ; 
and that the passage across to Basingwerk Abbey, near the 
modern Holywell, was then a " royal road." 

17. The remains of Norman pottery which have been dis- 
covered, and the numerous goad-spurs, which are still more 
distinct and significant, afford evidence that the settlement 
revived ; and that persons of knightly character frequented 
the woods and sands of the locality, while their humbler fol- 
lowers used such household implements as the condition of 
the arts then furnished. Of the wearers of the goad spurs it 
may be said : — ■ 

Their bones are dust, 
Their swords are rust, 
Their souls are with the saints, we trust. 

18. The succeeding period, that is to say, the mediae val or 
early English, was probably the most flourishing ; and may 
have continued down to about the year 1500. Most of the 
objects range over this period of four centuries ; and we are, 
therefore, at liberty to infer that the great inroads of the sea, 
like great earthquakes, occurred at remote periods, though the 
minor causes and effects were of regular occurrence. 

19. The more modern objects are easily accounted for, as 
many of them, no doubt, belonged to non-resident persons ; 
viz., to the sailors and military, who merely passed over the 
place. 

20. Though no houses remain, nor any portion of them, there 
is evidence that the mass of these relics belonged to resident 
people, and not to mere passers-by. The limited geographical 
area within which the Eoman and Saxon objects are found, 
is, of itself, conclusive on the subject. Besides, our modem 
town house represents a building of solid brick or stone, covered 
with slates, and with doors and glazed windows. This is very 
different from the fragile structures which must have satisfied 
many even of the wealthy in the olden time. Their houses 
were probably all of timber; much of their furniture of the 



CONCLUSION. 395 

same .material ; and timber also served them for fuel. Some 
portion of these, no doubt, still remains undistinguishable in 
the spongy masses of oak, fir, and hazel, which make the Dove 
or Black earth almost one mass of rotten timber. In no part 
of England have houses of wooden construction continued so 
long as in Cheshire ; where the framed timber and plaster, or 
post-and-petrel, houses may still be seen either in town or 
country districts. 

21. There are few warlike implements among all that are 
found ; it is clear, therefore, that they were connected mainly 
with civil and peaceful pursuits. 

22. There are the articles of female ornament and industry; 
the hair-pin, the needle, the spindle- whorl, the ear-rings, 
beads, &c, as well as those connected with the dress of men 
and the equipment of horses. Therefore, both sexes must 
have made the locality their home; and, though no object has 
been found which can be clearly identified as a child's toy, it 
is evident that family ties existed, that children grew up, 
that adult men and women engaged in the daily struggle of 
life, and that old age, as usual, sank into the tomb. 

23. There are articles of various degrees of intrinsic value ; 
some common, as of lead, pewter, and iron ; and others rare, as 
of gold, silver, and enamel. Therefore, the rich and the poor 
have met together upon this spot, and have combined largely 
with others in the middle ranks of life. 

24. Since so many as ninety objects were found in a single 
year, it may be said that they are still numerous ; yet, we 
know by comparison, that they are rapidly diminishing. In 
1814 they were found in much greater abundance ; and the 
difficulty of procuring them has since increased. The in- 
ference is, that the principal inhabited spot is becoming more 
and more completely washed away, and that we are now only 
on the outskirts, picking up such objects as the tide separates 
or washes out from the enclosing earth. 

25. While discussing the question respecting the existence 



396 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

of former residents, and the periods at which they respectively- 
nourished, we stand on the very surface which they trod, and 
move portions of the trees about, under whose foliage they 
rested. Some of these fragments may have been the porches 
or lintels of their doors, the posts which supported their 
humble roofs, or the benches on which they sat at eventide, 
when the toils of the field or of the forest chase were over. 

26. It requires no stretch of the imagination, but only the 
legitimate exercise of fair reasoning, to realize such a picture 
as that which Mrs. Hemans presents to us, in her little poem 
eutitled "The Last Tree of the Forest." She represents 
a gigantic oak as uttering words which might be spoken by 
one of those beside us : — 

I have seen the knight and his train ride past, 

With his banner borne on high ; 
Over all my leaves there was brightness cast, 

From his gleaming panoply. 

The pilgrim at my feet hath laid 

His palm branch, 'midst the flowers, 
And told his beads, and meekly pray'd, 

Kneeling at vesper hours. 

And the merry men of wild and glen, 

In the green array they wore, 
Have feasted here with red wine's cheer, 

And the hunters' songs of yore. 

And the minstrel, resting in my shade, 

Hath made the forest ring, 
"With the lordly tales of the high crusade, 

Once loved by chief and king. 

3. — Finale. 
The contest between land and water is one among the 
natural influences that go forward without cessation. In 
general, a sandy coast gains upon the sea, and the sea gains 
where there are perpendicular cliffs of any material which 
admits of being gradually undermined. Year by year the 
contest is waged in Egypt, where, during the long drought, 



CONCLUSION. 397 

the desert sands narrow the little strip of cultivation; and 
again, the Nile, at the swelling of its waters, drives hack the 
desert for a time. On our own coast the contest is similar in 
principle, but on a smaller scale. We have narrowed the bed 
of both rivers, and extracted valuable land from their bottoms. 
We have hemmed them in within narrower bounds, and tried 
to secure a deep channel for our large ships ; and it is natural 
to suppose that Neptune will have his reprisals. If he 
destroyed the land while under no such provocation, he will 
not spare it to-day. 

Within sight of the spot where these relics were procured, 
and where the associations of centuries lie buried, two sister 
boroughs rise, where nothing but a castle and an abbey were 
seen, and reckon their joint population at more than half a 
million. At a short distance, forests of masts meet the eye ; and 
in the giant havens won from the marsh and the river, and along 
the hill-side, the products of the world are deposited for use and 
transmission. The roar of a great town echoes over melancholy 
wastes, once thriving and populous ; and to the sound of the 
shipmen's voices, or the rattle of the hammers of naval archi- 
tects, there is now no response from these almost desolate 
sands. Thus, commerce like fortune turns her wheel, scat- 
tering her favours now to this place, now to that, and showing 
that none is secure against a reasonable proportion of what are 
called " ups and downs." 

In trying to Tescue this place and its successive inhabitants 
from oblivion, and to show something of their existence, cha- 
racter, and pursuits, by the small monuments which they have 
left behind them, the writer has been chiefly anxious to adduce 
a large body of well-ascertained facts, as the materials for future 
comparison and generalization. The professional archaeologist 
may discover some faults in the treatment of the numerous 
details, but he will find at the same time a large fund of new and 
authentic materials ; and, if a more correct explanation can be 
given than is offered here, the writer will be one of the first 



398 PART III. — DEPOSITION OF THE OBJECTS. 

and the heartiest to welcome it. He has been unusually cau- 
tious in fixing the dates of particular objects ; knowing that 
it is very easy to deceive oneself in this respect, and to exag- 
gerate the importance of a commonplace object, by arbitrarily 
claiming for it a position which no one can legally disprove. 
But, another date may be just as arbitrarily assigned, and the 
disproof may be as difficult ; so that nothing is settled by the 
adoption of such a course. In the present case, it is wholly 
unnecessary to urge the importance of the objects generally, 
as they speak for themselves, and they will more than bear 
out all the inferences which I have endeavoured to extract 
from them. 

I venture to believe that, amidst all the jostling and compe- 
tition of commerce, and amid the continued excitement of 
political events anticipated or achieved, there is still a feeling 
of earnest interest in the past, and a sincere desire to know 
the former condition of a locality which has made, and is 
making, the materials of history so rapidly. It may never 
happen that our own town will be either sanded up or washed 
away. ISTo future Belzoni may find it necessary to dig out 
Nelson's monument from the deserted exchange ; nor may the 
antiquaries of New Zealand occupy themselves in discussion 
respecting the alleged position of St. George's Hall. On the 
contrary, let us suppose a tide of continued prosperity, and 
many rapid and successive enlargements of the sister towns on 
the banks of the Mersey ; even then, the numerous children of 
both communities will look back with kindly interest to our 
days, just as we do to the various periods which have been 
passed in review in these pages. 




INDEX 



Acus, general meaning of the word, 
221. 

Adam Bell and Gym of the Clough, 
O. B., quoted, 202n. 

Adams's Index Villaris referred to, 1 5. 

Ages of the Antiquarian objects, 57. 

Aguiler, or Xeedle-case, 2.0. 

Amslie, P. B., Esq., his collection of 
Antiquities, 49, 51. 

Albert Graeme, Scott's, quoted, 83. 

Amadour, our Lady of, 283 ; explana- 
tion respecting, 283, 284. 

Amber, Cheshire antiquities of, 53 ; 
beads of, 1 60. 

American Indians, their smoking- 
pipes, 339. 

Anchor dredged up, 354 ; size of, 354 ; 
similar ones, 355. 

Ancient Settlements, theory of de- 
struction, 363; details of, 377. 

Ancren Riwle, quoted, 84, 87, 2\8n, 
234 n. 

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, quoted, 25n. 

Angons, see " Spears." 

Animal Remains, found, 21 ; consist 
of what, 347 ; their flesh abundant 
347; the Remains in a Natural 
state, 347 ; manufactured, 348 ; Irish 
elk, 348 ; red-deer, 348 ; roe-buck, 
348 ; fallow-deer, 348 ; Bos primi- 
genius, 348 ; Bos longifrons, 349 ; 
wild-boar, 350 ; horse, &c, 350. In 
a manufactured state, 351 ; hair- 
pins, 351 ; boar's tusk, 351 ; whistle, 
351 ; knife-handle, 351 ; shoes, &c, 
352. Specimens found in 1862, 362 ; 
ditto from Swiss lakes, 375; ditto 
from Dunwich, 386. 

Annals of Liverpool, quoted, 199rc. 

Annie of Lough Ryan, O. B., quoted, 
246. 

Annularius, his labours, 241. 

Antiquities, found where, 1 ; a puz/.le 
to archaeologists, 2; how and when 
discovered, 47; ownership of, 51; 
materials of, 52 ; purposes of, 53 ; 
analysis of, according to use, 55, 56 ; 
age of, 57 ; various collections of, 
49, 50 ; size of, 60 ; style of art in, 
bo ; bow lost in crannoges, 369. 



Apocrypha, quoted, 90n. 

Aquatic Habitations, theory of, 363, 

366 ; examined in detail, 366 ; two 

heads, 367. 
Arbuthnot's Puer Scolear, quoted, 

234. 
Archoeologia, quoted, 120, 126, 126rc, 

133n. 
Archer, derived use of the term, 20 > ; 

surname of, 199 ; its locality, 199. 
Archer's costume in this district, 199. 
Archery, implements of, 197 ; known 

to the ancients, 197 ; origin and 

shape of bows, 198 ; used till when, 

198. 
Ark of the Israelites, its character, 

192rc. 
Arkwright, trade of, 241rc; surname 

of, 242n. 
Arrow township not mentioned in 

Domesday, 388. 
Arrows, length of, 198 ; how con- 
structed, 199 ; materials of, 200 ; 

bolt and shaft, 200, 201 ; copper 

heads on, 202 ; bone heads, 202 ; 

broad arrow, 203 ; bearing arrow, 

203 ; how borne, 205 ; how many, 

205 ; to be thought of by servant, 

167n. 
Arrow-heads, pictorial representation 

of, 202, 203, 204, 205; found in 

Swiss lakes, 374. 
Arrow shafts, length of, 204. 
Arrow nights, usual length of, 206n. 
Arrow, broad, found in 1862, 361. 
Art, degrees of, in antiquarian objects, 

60. 
Aurifabri, work of, 230. 
Axes, 301; Merovingian double, 301 ; 

bi-pennis, &c, 301; cost of, 302; 

general forms of, 302, 303. 



Bailey's Dictionary, quoted, 73», 

127w, 226. 
Balearins, extended meaning of the 

term, 200//. 

Bandoliers, 299. 

Band Ruffe and Cuttc, ( >. 1'., quoted, 
234. 



2 I) 



400 



INDEX. 



Bankes's Geography, quoted 25n. 

Bannatyne MSS., quoted, 162«, 178n. 

Banchory lake, remains of crannoges 
in, 366n. 

Bank of mud or sand at Liverpool, 45. 

Barclay's Conduct at Church, quoted, 
262n. 

Barclay's Cytezen and Uplondish 
Man, quoted, 86, 262. 

Barnfield's Affectionate Shepherd, 
quoted, 143, 20l?i. 

Barnston township, mentioned in 
Domesday, 388. 

Bars as leather ornaments, 131. 

Bayonet, derivation of, 299 ; plug and 
socket, 299. 

Beads carried by travelling pedlars, 
81 ; universality of use, 157 ; large 
numbers found, 157 ; materials of, 
157, 158, 159; found in ancient 
graves, 1 58 ; teeth used for, 1 59 ; 
varying shapes of, 159 ; amber dis- 
appearing, 160 ; found with skele- 
tons near the neck, 160, 161 ; strung 
on rings, 161 ; on rosaries in de- 
cades, 161, 162; pictorial represen- 
tations of, 157, 158, 160, 161, 162, 
163 ; analysis showing ownership, 
materials, and number of those in 
this collection, 163; large perfora- 
tion in some, 335 ; found in Swiss 
lakes, 374 ; materials of, 335. 

Beamont, William, his translation of 
Domesday in reference to Cheshire 
and Lancashire, 386/2. 

Beard, Turkish comb for, 319. 

Bebington, not mentioned in Domes- 
day, 388. 

Bee, see " B^igh." 

Beichan and Susie Pve, O. B., quoted, 
191. 

Beigh or Bee, a ring, 83. 

Bells, 255 ; ancient use of, 255 ; ma- 
terial of, 255; shape of, '255; pur- 
poses of (at fool's-cap, at girdle, at 
anklets, at garters, at scarf, &c), 
256, 257, 258; at dog's collars, 259, 
259w; at horses' and camels', 259, 
260 ; belling the cat, 260 ; sheep 
bells, 261 ; origin of the proverb " to 
bear the bell," 261; hawks' bells, 
262 ; pictorial representations of, 
261, 263 ; number, material, and 
ownership of those in this collec- 
tion, 263, 264. 

Belt of stamped leather, 133. 

Bctlcy Hall, curious window at, 258. 

BidstoD parish, not noticed in Domes- 
day, 389; condition of, 389. 

Birds, remains of, 350. 



Birkenhead, not noticed in Domes- 
day, 388 ; and Liverpool, 397 ; future 
prospects of, 398. 

Birket river, sluggish, and with little 
fall, 3; discharges its waters how, 20. 

" Black-earth," situated where, 8; its 
condition in 1850, 9, 10, 

Blome's Britannia, quoted 28n. 

Boar, wild, remains of, 350 ; tusk from 
Meols, 350; ditto from Leicester, 
351. 

Bodkin to be thought of by a gentle- 
man's servant, 167ra ; borne by 
ancient pedlars, 23 In ; explanation 
of, 225/t; double meaning of the 
word, 22 6n. 

Bolt, what, 200; secondary meanings 
of, 201. 

Bone, Cheshire implements of, 53. 

Bones of sheep used as slate pegs, 239. 

BokeofEobin Conscience, quoted, 81. 

Bos longifrons, remains of, 348; size 
of, 349. 

Bos primigenius, remains of, 348; size 
of, 349. 

Bosphorus, fishermen's huts in, 367. 

Bosses, 138; various forms of, 138; 
materials of, 139; how employed, 
140; prominent on the belt, 140; 
also on baldric, 141; various ex- 
amples of, 142, 143; gave epithet 
to Belted Will, 143; connected with 
horse furniture, 144 ; still used in 
Norway, 145 ; were used also in 
bookbinding, 146 ; lingered till 
lately in furniture, 146; reappear- 
ing, 146; employed on shields, 147; 
figured illustrations of, 148, 149, 
150; analysis of materials, owner- 
ship, and peculiarities of those in 
this collection, 151; found in Swiss 
lakes, 374; and at Dunwich, 384. 

Bossetier (boss-maker), 146. 

Botcher, a mender - of clothes, 262/*. 

Bow, origin of shape, 197, 198; cross- 
bow, 200 ; bow to be remembered 
by servant, 167a. 

Bowl, Saxon, of bronze, 357; dimen- 
sions of, 358; Irish bronze bowls, 
358. 

Bowmakcr, surname of, 199. 

Bowyer, surname of, 199. 

Brabant. Expenses of the Duke of, 
quoted, 175. 

Bracelets found in Swiss lakes, 371. 

Bradshaw's Life ofWerburgh, quoted, 
27, 35//. 

Brass, Cheshire antiquities o\\ 52, 53. 

Breast-pins, 74. 

Brewer's Lingua, O. 1'.. quoted, 231. 



INDEX. 



401 



Bridle-bit, Spanish, 174. 

British period, objects belonging to, 
58, 5d. 

British coins, 292. 

Bronze, Cheshire antiquities ^of, 52, \ 
53. 

Bronze fibulas, 70. 

Brooches, 72; derivation of term, 72?i; 
original, the spur of a thorn or 
lar^e nail, 74; carried by travelling i 
pedlars, 8 1 ; part of one of lead, | 
296; pin brooches, various, 74; 
stages in their manufacture, 75; 
number, variety, and materials of, | 
in this collection, 75, 76; related to j 
pins and hair-pins, 76; figured ex- 
amples of, 75; Circular Brooches, 
gradation towards, 76; varieties of j 
in different countries, 77; materials ! 
of 78, 79; allusions to, 79; known 
by peculiar names, 79, 80; sold by 
the farriers or milliners, 80 ; varie- 
ties in this collection, 81, 82 ; figured 
specimens of, Gloucestershire, 77; 
Kent, 78 ; Brooch and King associ- 
ated, 82, 83; one found in 1862, 
360; examples from Duuwich, 384. 
Brumfield Hill, O. B., quoted, 17.6, 

262/*. 
Broselev, tobacco-pipes from, 340, 

341, 342, 343. 
Buckets, peculiar, 355; found where. 
355; structure of, 356 ; mistakes 
respecting, 356; ornaments of, 356; 
Hoylake pail, 357 ; uses of such 
implements, 357. 
Buckler, to be thought of bv servant, 

16772. 

Buckles most numerous among the 
relics, 56; their antiquity, 90; their 
relation to fibular, 90 ; purposes 
which they served, 90; disappear- 
ing from dress, 90; materials of, 90, 
91; figured examples of, 91, 92, 99. 
Buckles with Shanks or Attach- 
ments, 92; the shank called a tail, 
92; figured examples of, 93, 94, 95, 
96; uses of shank, 92; occasionally 
attached to metal, 95, 96; analysis 
and explanation of examples in this 
collection, 96, 97. Buckles, circular, 
and oval, 98, 99 ; horse-head buckle, 
94, 93; Pelham buckle, 99; number 
of buckles in this collection, 100; 
material and ownership, 101. 
Double Buckles explained, 101; 
examples of, 102; number, material, 
and ownership of those in this col- 
lection, 102 : specimens found in 
1862, 360; ditto, with attachments, 



360; ditto, double, 360; examples 
from Dunwich, 384. 

Buckle-makers, 103, 105. 

Buckle-brooches, 84; characteristics 
of, 85; materials of, 85; mode of 
use, 86; allusion to, 87; figured 
examples of, 85, 86; analysis and 
explanation of those in the present 
collection, 57; found in 1862, 360. 

Buenos Ay res, combs from, 320. 

Bulla, meaning of, 140, 285. 

Burdett's Map, 15. 

Burying places deserted, 17/z. 

Butts Tor shooting at, 206, 206/*. 

Byron's Giaour, quoted, 260. 



Crer-legion, derivation of, 25. 

Caldy, mentioned in Domesday, 387. 

Camden Miscellany, quoted, 199/1. 

Campana, what, 256. 

Canoes found in Swiss lakes, 375. 

Canute the Great, coins of, 288. 

Capenhurst, mentioned in Domesdav, 
338. 

Capper, trade of, 242« ; surname of, 
242/*. 

Caroghe, Brian's crannoge, 369. 

Capillarius (buckle-maker), 105. 

Cassarius (case-maker), 193. 

Catalogue of Special Museum, S. 
Kensington, quoted, \22?i. 

Catherine of Arragon, stuff in her 
wardrobe, 193. 

Cetacean, remains of, 350. 

Chain, link of, 311. 

Chair -back combs, 320. 

Chambers, Robert's Edinburgh Pa- 
pers, quoted, 23. 

Chapes of swords and daggers, 307. 

Chatellaines, Dr. Mortimer's remarks 
on, 310; Faussett's ditto, 311; found 
only in women's graves, 311; used 
in Switzerland, 31 1; found in the 
lakes, 375. 

Chaucer, quoted. 79n, 131, 132, 16 \ 
174, 178n, 179, 187, 201a, 220, 229, 
243, 266, 269b. 
Chester, meaning of the term, 25; 
central position of, 26; the coun- 
tries trading with it, 27; legion XX. 
at. 36; abandoned as a port, 28; 
sailing from, meant Dee or Wirrall, 
29, soldiers passed through, 29; 
difficulty of finning accommodation 
at, 33a. 
Chester countv. southern boundary 

of, 1. 
Cheshire shore, frequent inroads «.f 

the Bea, 16. 



402 



INDEX. 



Chester water, meaning of the term, 
30. 

Chester Mystery Plays, quoted, 83, 
273. 

Chevy Chase, oldest ballad of, quoted, 
198?z, 204?z. 

Child wall, race-course at, 5. 

Childer Thornton, not mentioned in 
Domesday, 388. 

Chinese rivers, habitations on, 367. 

Cholmeley's True-hearted English- 
man, quoted, 233. 

Cilgwri, a former name for Wirrall, 
13. 

Circular brooches, 76. 

Clasps, see " Hasps," 

Clayonlough, crannoge at, 369. 

Cloth used for scabbard, 306. 

Cloak, to be remembered by servant, 
167n. 

Cluny lake, Perthshire, remains of 
crannoge in, 366ra. 

Clyne lake, Sutherland, remains of 
crannoge in, 366w. 

Cobbler of Canterbury, quoted, 111. 

Cochet, M. L. Abbe, quoted, 265. 

Coffers necessary to our ancestors; 
192; allusions to, 193; details of 
ornaments, J 94, 195; materials of, 
196; pictorial representations re- 
ferring to, 193, 194, 195, 196; 
materials, ownership, and number 
of objects in this collection, 196. 
Handles found in 1862, 361. 

Cofferet, see " Scent Box." 

Coins, 286; not restricted to this dis- 
trict, 286 ; Carthaginian copper 
coins, 286 ; lead, from Cornwall 
and North Wales, 287; spot where 
found, 287 ; origin of the term 
" styca," 287n ; coinage in Deira, 
288; hoards, various, 288; Saxon 
coins, various, 288 ; subdivided, 289 ; 
called "crosses," 2 74, 289n; catalogue 
of coins, 290; found in 1862, 362; 
examples from Dunwich, 385. 

Collars, 308 ; found in Swiss lakes, 375. 

Collins, Captain Grenville, his chart, 
40n, 41. 

Colour, materials of, 327. 

Constable's sands, wbere, 27. 

Contention, The, O. P., quoted, 242. 

Copper, Cheshire antiquities of, 52, 
53; material abundant, 53. 

Coppersmith, trade and name of, 241». 

Combs carried by travelling pedlars, 
81; horse-comb, to be remembered 
by servant, 167w; Egyptian, 318; 
Roman, 318; at Uriconium, 318; 
Creek triangular, 318; from Pom- 



peii, 318; from ancient barrows, 
318; and from the Thames, 318; 
uses of, 318; worn by maidens, 318; 
reference to in literature, 319 ; 
materials of, 320; Indian, for scalp- 
locks, 321 ; Saxon, 322; how borne, 
322 ; made in sections, 322 ; with 
double cases, 323 ; peculiar ones, 
323. 

Cordiner, surname of, 242«. 

Corners of boxes, 194, 195. 

Corser, Rev. Thomas, quoted, 4n. 

Cotgrave's Dictionary, quoted, 72n, 
146re, 200. 

Counters of lead, 297. 

Crannoges of Ireland, 367 ; shape of, 
367 ; construction of, 367 ; picture of, 
368; details respecting, 368; occur 
at various places, 369 ; stores of 
antiquities, 369. 

Crockery, mediaeval domestic, 328. 

Cross, a name for a coin, 274. 

Crosses, 264 ; number of in former 
times, 264 ; forms of, 264; varieties 
in shape, 265; materials of, 265; 
Saxon cross from Hilbre, 267 ; 
number, materials, and ownership 
of specimens in this collection, 266, 
267. 

Crossbow, Chinese, serving as a re- 
volver, 201. 

Crotal explained, 263. 

Crucifixes, 264. 

Cruel Sister, O. B., quoted, 84. 

Cuir bouilli, coffers made of, 196. 

Cunningham, John, F.G.S-, his inves- 
tigations, 18, 21fi. 

Cup-mender, trade of, 242n, 308. 

Cutpurse, origin of the term, 276. 

D 

Dagger to be remembered by servant, 
167 n ; confounded with bodkin, 
226w; found in Swiss lakes, 375. 
See also " Swords." 

Danes at Chester, 36 ; their words 
used as Cheshire local names, 37, 
38?*; the Danish five burghs, what, 
35?i; period, objects belonging to, 
59 ; coins, 292. 

Darts, see " Spears." 

Davies, Dean, his Diary, quoted, 32, 
39. 

Decoration of fibula;, 71. 

Dee river, position of, 1; source of it, 
1 ; importance in ancient times, 25 , 
its mouth a halting-place for ships, 
27; change of channel, 46. 

Deer's horn, hammer of, 351. 

Do la Fontaine, Stephen, ({noted, 139. 



INDEX. 



403 



Denham's Mersey and Dee, quoted, 
42. 

Deposition of objects, 363. 

Derby, pipes from, 341. 

Devil, proverb of eating with, 289. 

Dickinson's Glossary, quoted, \27n. 

Dillon, Hon. James's, letter, quoted, 
30. 

Disobedient Child, O. P., quoted, 233. 

Docwra, Sir Henry's, Narrative, quot- 
ed, 30. 

Dog, remains of, 350. 

Dolphin-shaped fibula?, 65. 

Domesday Survey, inferences from, 
386. 

Douglas, Gavin, Paleys of Honour, 
quoted, 207, 262 ; Satire on the 
Times, quoted 162n. 

Dove Point, geological features of, 
22, 24; its position, 6; inferences 
respecting, 6; derivation of name, 
6 ; similar words, 6n ; a halting- 
place for ships, 28 ; formerly a hill, 
391. 

Drayton's Polyolbion, quoted, 4, 144. 

Drinkwater Spit, Dove Spit, 6n. 

Duffield, pipe from, 340. 

Dunbar's Tydings fra the Session, 
quoted, 162w; Freirs of Berwick, 
187, 243 ; Epistle to the King, 274 ; 
Twa Mariit Wemen, &c , 243. 

Dunes, like our sandhills, 4. 

Dunwich, history of, 381 ; bishops of, 
331n ; its churches destroyed, 382 ; 
condition of, at Conquest, 382 ; 
ditto in Camden's time, 382 ; ditto 
at present, 383 ; its resemblance to 
Meols, 383 ; antiquities found at, 
384. 



Earlier English period, objects be- 
longing to, 60. 

Ear-picks, 271 ; strung with other 
small objects, 271; materials and 
form of, 271 ; notice of those in the 
collection, 272. 

Ear-rings, 248 ; antiquity of, 248 ; 
variety of forms, 248; found in 
Swiss lakes, 249 ; of strange sbapes, 
249 ; ear-hooks, 249 ; specimens of 
pendent objects, 250 ; called " ear- 
pins," 251 ; ear-ornaments of boars' 
tusks, of greenstone, and of wood, 
251 ; gripping car-rings of gold, 246; 
pictorial representations of, 249, 

250, 251 ; ownership, material, and 
number of objects in this collection, 

251, 252 ; specimens found in the 
Swiss lakes, 375. 



Eastham mentioned in Domesday, 

388. 
Edmonton, Merry Devil of, O. P., 

quoted, 162?*. 
Edward III., Expenses of Avardrobe 

quoted, 239. 
Egremont Hotel, landslip at, 2\n, 
Egyptian combs, 318. 
Enamel, examples of, 327. 
Enamelled objects, 53. 
English coins, 293. 
Ethelred II., coins of, 288. 
Ethnology of the neighbourhood, 34. 
Expenses, Kingston Church books, 

quoted, 258. 



Fallow deer, remains of, 348. 

Eearon and Eyes, charts by, 41. 

Fermails, material and ownership of, 
57 ; description of, 84. 

Ferrule, see Spears. 

Fibulas, first discovery of, in 1846, 47 ; 
definition of, 61 ; described, 61 ; 
forms of, 62 ; Virgil's allusion to, 
62/z ; Roman examples from Crun- 
dale, 64 ; from Little Chester, 65 ; 
from Cheshire, 7 1 ; from Walesby, 
72 ; sometimes circular, 67 ; minutely 
described, 71 ; Saxon from Suffolk, 
68 ; forms vary with districts, 68 ; 
from Cambridge, 69. Peculiar : — 
dolphin pattern, 65 ; snake pattern, 
66; with projections, 65; the 
Roman and Saxon forms sometimes 
resemble, 66 ; materials of, 70, 72 ; 
number of, 72 ; examples from 
Swiss lakes, 374 ; Roman, from 
Dunwich, 384. 

Firmacularius, (or clasp- maker), 108. 

Fish-hooks, primitive, from New 
Zealand, 252 ; of flint, 252 ; bronze 
from the Thames, 252 ; bone, from 
America, 253 ; various processes in 
the manufacture of, 253 ; number 
and varieties in Cheshire, 253 ; 
pictorial representations of, 253; 
found in 1862, 361 ; found in Swiss 
lakes, 375. 

Flail-stones, 312. 

Fleming's Dictionary, quoted, 72/?, 
146n. 226. 

Fletcher, surname of, 199. 

Flint, Cheshire antiquities of, 53. 

Flint implements preceded metal 
ones, 208 ; still in use, 208 ; present 
localities of stone period, 208 ; 
arrow heads and knives in (lint, 2US, 
209 ; curious work executed with 
thcm,208« ; mode of manufacturing 



404 



INDEX. 



flint arrows, 209??; flint knives used 
for sacred purposes, 209. 

Flodden Field, O. B., quoted, 199. 

Florence of Worcester, quoted, 25n. 

Fluvial deposit theory, 363, 365 ; 
objections to, 365 ; absurdity of, 
366. 

Forfar lake, Scotland, remains of 
crannoge in, 366w. 

Forks, 181 ; more modern than knives, 
182 ; materials, form, and size of, 
182. 

Formby, submarine forest at, 9 ; old 
graveyard at, 17?? ; custom of smok- 
ing at, 337 ; former condition of, 
380; retirement of village, 380. 

French, Mr., his theory respecting 
crosses, 264. 

Frodsham, road from, direct to Meols, 
14. 

Furbisher, trade of, 242??. 



G 

Gallic sword, 304. 

Gayton mentioned in Domesday, 

387. 
Geological strata in Wirrall, 18. 
Girdles carried by travelling pedlars, 

81. 
Girdler or belt-maker, trade of, 24 2n. 
Glass, Cheshire antiquities ot, 53 ; 

composition of, 326 ; specimens of, 

325 ; colouring of, 326. 
Glasses carried by travelling pedlars, 

81. 
Glass cups, with pendent ornaments, 

327. 
Glazes, colour of, 332. 
Glossary to Rob of Gloucester, quoted, 

73??. 
Gloves carried by travelling pedlars, 

81. 
Gold, Cheshire antiquities of, 52 ; 

combs of, 320 ; fibula? of, 70. 
Goldsmith, trade of, 24 In. 
Greasby, mentioned in Domesdav, 

387. 
Great Float, name for Wallasev Pool, 

3. 
Greek coins, 290. 
Gunsmith, trade of, 241??. 
Gunstone, 300. 
Gutch's Robin ITood, quoted, 201, 

201??. 
Gypcicrcs, 272 ; metnl parts of, 272 ; 

ornamentation of, 127,3 : varieties of, 

273 ; contents of, 273, 274 ; frames 

of, found in various places, 274 ; 

pictorial representations of. 275. 



H 



Hair-pins, 221 ; their relation to other 
objects, 221; materials of, 222; 
shape of. 222 ; with loops and 
rings, 223 ; curious form of, 224 ; 
hair pins generally, 224, 225 ; pic- 
torial representations of, 222, 223, 
224, 225 ; objects in this collection, 
223, 225, 226. 

Halter to be remembered by servant, 
167??. 

Halliwell's Glossary, quoted, 127??. 

Hand-case maker, (glover), trade of, 
242??. 

Handles of boxes, 195, 315. 

Hargreave, mentioned in Domesdav, 
387. 

Harpalus, O. B.. quoted, 234. 

Harry White his Humour, O. P, 
quoted, 231??, 269??. 

Hasps, 106 ; uses of, 106 ; examples 
of, 106 ; figured specimens of, 108, 
110,111, 112, 113, 115. Hasp with 
lid, 108; with ring, 110; with 
orifice, 111 ; with hook, 111 ; with 
opening in groove, 112; with stud, 
li2; with rosettes, 113; with 
swivels, 114, 115; number and 
variety of, in this collection, 116 ; 
Hasps of boxes, 195, 196 ; found in 
1862, 360 ; fouud in the Swiss lakes, 
374. 

Hasta, see " Spears." 

Henryson's Testament of Cresseide, 
87 ; Prologue to Fables, 273??. 

Henry of Huntingdon, quoted, 25??. 

Herefordshire Lady, biography of, 
quoted, 103. 

Ileswell, mentioned in Domesdav, 
387. 

"Hey," meaning of, in names of 
places, 39. 

Heywood's Four P's, quoted, 81 ; 
Mery Play, quoted, 255. 

Hcvwood, Thomas, F.S.A., quoted, 
28. 

Hoylake, originally the water, not 
the village, 33. 

Hilbre island, 3 ; derivation of name, 
3»? ; changes in, 17 ; advice of monk 
at, 27 ; shipping from, in 1600, 30 ; 
head from, 162?*; cross from, 267. 

Hills Graham U., information by, 
26», 42>i. 

Hinges, various, 193, 104. 

1 lilts of .swords, 304, 805. 

Holland, pipes from, 3-42. 

Hood to be remembered by servant, 
167?/. 



INDEX. 



405 



Hooks carried by travelling pedlars. 
81. 

Hoose, derivation of name, 6 ; not 
mentioned in Domesday, 387. 

Hooton not mentioned in Domesdav, 
388. 

Horn, Cheshire antiquities of, 53 ; to 
be thought of by servant, 167n. 

Horse, remains of, 350 ; size of, 350. 

Horse furniture, 17 i ; few specimens 
of, in this collection, 171 ; bridle 
bits and cheek pieces, 172 ; breech- 
ings, 173; allusions to, 174; sup- 
posed parts of, 296. 

Horse armoury, 144, 145. 

Horse-comb to be remembered by 
servant, 167n. 

Horse-head buckle, 94, 98. 

Horsley's Britannica Rom ana, 13. 

How, or hoe, derivation of, 4n. 

Hoylake, early mention of, 7 ; deriva- 
tion of name, 7n ; Duke Schomberg 
sailed from. 30 ; various persons, 
sail from, 32 ; tobacco-pipes from, 
345. 

Ho vie Bank, cut in two by the Dee, 
41 ; antiquities from, 48. 

Human head of brass, 297. 

Hume, Dr., his collection of antiqui 
ties, 49, 51. 

Hungerford, Dame Agnes, inventory 
of, quoted, 237. 

Hunter'sHallamshire Glossary ,quoted, 
127??. 

Hutchinson's Seamanship, quoted, 44. 

Hydrography, 40. 

I 

Inferences, general, 390 ; proofs that 
the coast projected, 390 ; Roman 
site, 391 ; few British articles, 391 ; 
Dove Spit, a promontory at, 391 ; 
Saxon objects westward, : j »92 ; mo- 
dern ones near Iloyla ke, 392 ; Hilbre 
partially distinct, 392 ; Scandina- 
vians, peaceful settlement of, 393 ; 
Danish incursions, 393 ; Norman 
remains, 394 ; mediaeval remains, 
394 ; no houses, 394 ; few warlike 
implements, 395 ; both male and 
female ornaments, 395 ; indications 
of rich and poor, 395 ; number of 
objects, 395. 

Ion a, three hundred crosses at, 264. 

Irish coins, 293. 

Irish elk, remains of, 34«. 

Irish statutes, quoted, 200/?, 207. 

Iron, Cheshire antiquities of, 52, 53. 

Inventorium Sepulchral*.', quoted, 
155??. 



James's Iter Lancastrense, quoted, 4, 

8, 14». 
Javelins, see Spears. 
Jet, Cheshire antiquities of, 53. 
Johnsor, Sir Thomas, 43??. 
Judges v., quoted, 260. 

K 

Kembster, surname of, 242, 320??. 

Kerchief, to be remembered by servant, 
167n. 

Keys, 183; very ancient, 183; pecu- 
liar forms of, 184, 185 ; materials 
of, 186 ; mode in which worn, 187 ; 
signification of 188; pictorial re- 
presentations of, 184, 185, 186, 187, 
189 ; number, material, and owner- 
ship of those in this collection, 189 ; 
example of iron, from Swiss lakes, 
374 ; from Dunwich, 385. 

Kilnsea Churchyard, washed awav, 
380. 

King Estmere, O. B., quoted, 243??. 

King's Vale Royal, quoted, 8, 15, 29. 

King's Gap at Hoylake, named from 
William III., 34. 

Knives carried by travelling pedlars, 
81 ; form and size, 177 ; various 
examples of, 177; for presents and 
exchange, 179; suspended from the 
girdle, 179 ; gave epithet to English- 
men, 179 ; handles of, 180 ; position 
of, 180; sheaths of, 181; pictorial 
representations of, 177, 178, 180, 
181, 183; ownership, material, and 
number of those in this collection, 
183; to be thought of by servant, 
167??; examples from Swiss lakes, 
374; found in 1862, £61; bone 
handle ditto, 362. 

Knoctorum, mentioned in Domesday, 
388. 

L 

Landican mentioned in Domesdav, 
338. 

Laces carried by travelling pedlars, 
81, 231??. 

Lacustrine habitations, how and where 
discovered, 370 ; objects found at, 
370 ; probable ages of, 370 ; mode 
of construction, 371 ; Swiss towns 
built over, 37 1; progression from 
bone to iron, 371 ; mode of reason- 
ing respecting, 372 ; side view of, 
372 ; size of huts, how known, 372; 
population of a village, 372 ; piles 
of bronze period, 372 ; materials of 
huts, 373 ; older deposits under 



406 



INDEX. 



more modern, 373 ; list of objects 
found at, 374. 
Lady Bessy, old poem, quoted, 206w. 
Land slips, frequent, 2 In. 
Land surfaces, several, 22. 
La Normandie Souterraine, quoted, 

216re, 255. 
Lathom, seal of, 278. 

Latimer's sermons, quoted, 1 03. 

Latten explained, 266. 

Lead, Cheshire antiquities of, 52, 53. 

Leaf-shaped swords, 307, 

Leash to be thought of by servant, 
167n. 

Leasowes, race-course at, 5 ; extent 
of, 5 ; embankment at, 5. 

Leasowe Castle, original shape of, 15; 
position of, 15 ; insecurity of, 15. 

Leasowe lighthouse, 44 ; section of 
strata at, 23. 

Leather, Cheshire antiquities of, 53. 

Leather ornaments, 128 ; (1) rosettes, 
128 ; (2) plates, 129 ; figured 
examples of, 129, 130 ;• (3) bars, 
isl ; numerous allusions to, 131, 
132 ; figured example of, 133 ; (4) 
sections, 134; figure of, 134; (5) Mis- 
cellaneous, 135 ; examples of, 136, 
138 ; analysis of the objects in this 
collection, 130, 131, 134, 136, 137, 
138; specimens from Dunwich, 384. 

Leicester, animal remains from, 353. 

Lhuyd's Cambria? Typus, map from, 
13. 

Lighthouses at first opposed in Liver- 
pool, 42 ; memorial respecting, 43n; 
position and nature of, 16, 44; at 
Bidston and Leasowe, 43. 

Lindsay, Sir David's, Poems, quoted, 
175n, 273n. 

Liscard, not mentioned in Domesday, 
388. 

Liverpool, name of, 7« ; first dock at, 
45; buoying of Channel, 45; cor- 
poration snuff-box, 338. 

Loch Gabhor, crannoge at, 369. 

Loch Leary, crannoge at, 369. 

Loch Lochoy, crannoge at, 366n. 

Loch Lomond, crannoge at, 366??. 

Loch Melge, crannoge at, 369. 

Locks, small, padlocks, platclocks, &c. 
190. 

Long Bridge at Belfast, injured, 293. 

Longuevillc, Mrs., her collection of 
Antiquities, 51, 

Lord William, (). B., quoted, 176. 

Lord Willoughby, O. B., quoted, 198«. 

Lorimer, trade of, 242//, surname of, 
242n. 

Lucian'e Dialogues, quoted, 20??. 



Lucian the Monk, quoted, 26, 27. 

M 
Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Kome, 

quoted, 140, 178?j. 
MacHemy's crannoge, 369. 

Machyn's Diary, quoted, 276. 

MacKay, John, map by, 46 ; quoted, 
46. 

MacKenzie, chart by, 42 ; quoted, 44. 

Man, remains of, 348. 

Maps, ancient vague, 11; Anglo- 
Saxon, 11, 12. 

Marchioness of Douglas, O. B., quoted, 
229ft 

Marshes, draining of, 45. 

Martin's Western Islands, quoted, 79??. 

Massinger's Plays, quoted, 201 n. 

Materials of antiquarian objects, 52. 

Mayer, Joseph, Ins collection of An- 
tiquities, 50, 51. 

Mayer's Vocabularies, quoted, 74??, 
103, 104, 108, 126, 174, 221, 263/1. 

Mediaeval vessels, 329; how orna- 
mented, 329 ; where glazed, 329. 

Meles, seal of, 278; family of 279 ; 
pedigree of, 282 ; various forms of 
the word, 280. 

Melsh, another form of Meols, 14. 

Mending, 308. 

Meols, name of, 4«; formerly more 
important, 14. 

Meols, Great, probably a "Roman out- 
post, 26; mentioned in Domesday, 
387 ; condition of, 389. 

Meols, Little, 6 ; mentioned in Domes- 
day, 387 ; condition of, 389. 

Meols Stocks, 8, 9. 

Mercia, chief chics and towns in, 35n. 

Mersey river, position of, 1 ; a boun- 
dary of Northumbria, 35; said to 
have given name to Mercia, 35n ; 
supposed early condition of, 36. 

Metal objects unclassed, 296. 

Mill timbers, 316. 

Moll's Geography, quoted, 25??, 28«. 

Mooseedorf lake, piled habitations in, 
370. 

More recent English period, objects 
belonging to, 60. 

Morton, G. II., Geological paper by,l 8. 

Mortuary urns from midland coun- 
ties, 331. 

Mostyn Hall, alleged map at, 377. 

Motherwell's Minstrelsy, quoted, 20"??. 

Mount Vernon, Liverpool, Spanish 
bridle-bit found at, 174. 

Mullcnaux, Dr., quoted, 34. 

Monster's Cosmographia, map from, 

12. 



INDEX. 



407 



Muskets, none found, 297. 
Musket-rest described, 298; how used, 

298 ; examples of, 298 ; cost of, 298 ; 

specimen from Swiss lakes, 375. 

N 

Nails, ancient ones found, 238 ; used 
in crucifixion, 238 ; ancient ship 
nails, 238 ; slate pegs of sheep bone, 
239 ; door nail, proverb concerning, 
239; nails in this collection, 239. 

Names, local and personal, associated, 
39 ; those derived from localities 
frequent in Lancashire and Cheshire, 
39. 

Needles carried by friars, 218; also 
by pedlars, 81,218; their early use, 
215; material, 216; varieties in 
structure, 216; guttered needles, 
217; connected with piercers, 217: 
made of cactus thorn, 217 ; fre- 
quently carried on rings, 217 ; pro- 
verb connected with, 218; intro- 
duced to England, 218 ; material 
ownership, and number of those in 
this collection, 219; pictorial repre- 
sentations of, 215, 217, 219 ; modern 
needles, 219; processes in manu- 
facture, 220; per-centage broken, 
220; to be thought of by servant, 
167/2. 

Needle, Gammer Gurtou's, O. P., 
165'/z. 

Needle-cases found where, 220; 
alluded to by Chaucer, 220 : manu- 
facture of some here. 221. 

Nedyl-hows, a needle case, 221. 

Needle ami Piercer, used indiscrimi- 
nately, 217. 

Ness mentioned in Domesday, 387. 

Neston, Great, "y e noo key" at, 28; 
mentioned in Domesday, 387. 

Neston, Little, mentioned in Domes- 
day, 387. 

Net Weights, 312, 313. 

Neufchatel lake, piled habitations in, 
370; Roman city on land gained 
from, 370. 

New Zealand, ear-rings from, 251 ; 
primitive fish-hooks from, 252 ; use 
of tobacco in, 338. 

Nichols's Prog esses, quoted, 269. 

Noah's Ark, 192/2 

r-orman period, objects belonging to, 
59 ; pottery, 329. 

Norris Papers, quoted, 5/2. 

Norway, form offish-hook from, 253. 

, O 
Objects found in 1862, 359: Roman, 



Norman, Mediae val, and later Eng- 
lish, 359. 

Objects, deposition of, 363. 

Old Dock, strata discovered under, 
20. 

Old New Zealand, quoted, 20Sn., 
210/2. 

Old Sarum, history and decline of, 
378. 

O'Neill's crannoge, 369. 

Oranges, first brought to England, 
332. 

Ormerod's Cheshire, quoted, 21n. 

Orphrey work, meaning of, 215. 

Ornament for wood, 297. 

Ossuary and companion bottle, figures 
of, 64n. 

Ownership of antiquities. 51. 

Oxton not mentioned in Domesday, 
388. 

P 

Paris, Matthew, map from, 12. 

Paton, J, Noel, drawings by, 48. 

Peeblis to the Play, O. B., quoted, 
200n. 

Pelham buckle, 99. 

Penannular fibula?, 67. 

Pendants, see "Tags" and "Beads." 

Pendent objects, 163; many of silver, 
164; found with women and chil- 
dren, 164; pictorial examples of, 
164; number in this collection, 164. 

Penknife to be thought of by servant, 
167n. 

Pensbv, not mentioned in Domesday, 
380. 

Permanent level, water not land, 19. 

Peter and Paul, pilgrim's sign of, 285. 

Pewter, Cheshire antiquities of, 52, 
53: use of some unknown, 296. 

Piers Plowman, quoted, 102. 

Piercers found in Swiss lakes, 374. 

Pilgrim's Signs, 283; part of one, 296 j 
found at Dunwich, 385. 

Pilum, see Spears. 

Pins carried by pedlars, 81. 231/2., 
and by friars, 218; primitive ma- 
terial of, 226 ; general materials, 
227; forms, 228,2^9; u>es,2 0; size, 
230; required, 231; ornamentation 
of, 231 ; shapes of bead, 232 ; true 
love tokens, 233 , procured from 
abroad, 233 ; of small value, 233, 
2*4; Addison on pin-money, 235; 
pictorial representations of, 227, 
228,229,232; pins in this collection, 
235; pin druen what, 226; pins found 
in 1862, 861; examples from the 
Swiss lakes, 374; from Dunwich, 
385. 






408 



INDEX. 



Pin Brooches, 72. 

Pipe-makers' marks, 346. 

Pipe-stoppers, 346. 

Plates as leather ornaments, 129. 

Pltiscularii (buckle-makers) 103. 

Pomanders carried by pedlars, 81. 

Pommels, 305. 

Pompeii, comb from, 318. 

Pool, Nether,not mentioned in D >mes- 

day, 388. 
Pool, Over, mentioned in Domesday, 

388. 
Pope's Iliad, quoted, I98n. 
Pottery, Cheshire antiquities of, 53; 
with glass and enamel, 32 4; flou- 
rished where, 324; relics discovered, 
324; remains near Upchurch, &c, 
324; early nature of, 323; glazing 
and ornamentation, 329 ; slashed 
patterns, 331 ; Norman, 329, 333; 
specimens found in Swiss lakes, 
375; at Dunwich, 386. 
Pottery-moulds of terra-?otta, 329. 
Pouch of lead from Dunwich, 3-5. 
Poulton not mentioned in Domesday, 

388. 
Preen, explanation of, 234n., 251 n. 
Pre-historic period, objects of, 58. 
Prenton mentioned in Domesday, 388. 
Price's chart, 41. 
Prod, 299. 
Promptorium Parvulorum, quoted, 

72n., 127w, 
Proud Lady Margaret, B., quoted, 

230. 
Proverbs xxxi, quoted, 153. 
Ptotemy's map, 13. 
Purse to be remembered by servant, 
167n. ; carried by travelling pedlars, 
81,231?i 

Q. 
Quarrels, what, 200. 
Queen Jane and Queen Mary, quoted, 

127,238, 239. 
Querns, 315; formerly much us3d, 31 5 ; 
wind and water mills rare, '«15, 316. 
Quicksands under Cheshire const, 23. 
Quiver, when and where used, 205. 

R. 
Baby mentioned in Domesday, 387. 
Havens Mcols, partial destruction of, 

381. 
Ravenspur, disappearance of, 380. 
Rawlinson, account of Poulton and 

Seacombe, 16. 
Red deer, remains of, 34S; rapidly 

diminishing, 348. 
Rcdditch, fish-hooks manufactured at, 

258. 



Riche's Simohides, quoted, 2C1. 

Richmond, inventory of the Duke of, 
quoted, 86, 139. 

Rings borne by travelling pedlars, 
81, 231^ ; finger-rings, ancient use 
of, 240; laws respecting, 240 ; num- 
ber and materials of, 240 ; legends 
on, 241 ; used for what purposes, 
242 ; prizes and bribes, 242 ; marks 
of wealth and amulets, 243 ; found 
after centuries on the fingers of ske- 
letons, 243, 244; pictorial repre- 
sentations of, 241, 247; material, 
number, and ownership of the rings 
in this collection, 246, 247 ; ex- 
amples from Swiss lakes, 374 ; from 
Dunwich, 385. Peculiar rings : 
materials of, 244 ; used as whistles, 
watches, squirts, curtain-rings, &c, 
244, 245; mode of dividing apart- 
ments, 245 ; matrimonial and gym- 
nal rings, 246; legend on, 246; 
representations of, 245. 

Ring-pins, what, 74. 

Ring of bone, 352. 

Risp, ancient form of, 190. 

Ritson's Robin Hood, quoted, 180m, 
242, 276. 

Rivers in Cheshire, dried channels of, 
19. 

River beds filled up, 19. 

Rivets, very numerous in pre-Chris- 
tian period, 237 ; from Germany, 
237 ; those in the present collection, 
23S. 

Road round Wirral, portions of, 17. 

Roads in Lancashire and Cheshire, 
14n. 

Robert of Gloucester's Chronicle, quo- 
ted, 168. 

Robinson, Mr. C. B., his collection of 
antiquities, 50, 51. 

Robson's Three Early English Ro- 
mances, quoted, 141. 

Roebuck, remains of, 348. 

Roland's Court of Venus, quoted, 
26ln. 

Romans, laud surface which they 
trod, 24. 

Roman period, objects belonging to, 
59. 

Roman coins, 290 ; combs, 318 ; 
sword, 804. 

Rosaries shown on monumental 

brasses, 162/;. 
Rosettes as leather ornaments, 128. 

Rowley's Match at Midnight, O. P., 

200. 
Roxburgh, prosperity of. 379 ; decline 
of. 379. 



INDEX. 



409 



Runnymede, comb from, 318. 

S. 
S-shaped fibulas, 67. 
Saddle-cloth to be remembered by 

servant, 167». 
Sandhills, amount of, 4. 
Saughall mentioned in Domesday, 

388. 
Saxon period, objects belonging to, 

59 ; coins, 289, 292. 
Saxon Chronicle, quoted, 36». 
Saxton, map quoted, 13. 
Scalp-locks, comb for, 321. 
Scatterus, maps by, 13. 
Scent-box, or cofferet, found in 1862, 

361. 
Schenk's maps, 14. 

Schiller's Lay of the Bell, quoted, 154 
Schomberg, Duke, sails from iioylake, 

31. 
Schoolcraft's Archives, quoted, 209/?. 
Scissors, 253 ; meaning of symbol, 

254 ; very minute specimens, 254 ; 
Roman and Norman scissors, 254; 
with comb, knife, &c, hung from 
the girdle, 255 ; used as a weapon, 

255 ; carried by pedlars, 255 ; ex- 
amples from Swiss lakes, 375. 

Scott's Alice Brand, quoted, 177 ; 
Ivanhoe, 106, 178?i, 257, 260 ; Lady 
of the Lake, 87, 180 ; Lay of the 
Last Minstrel, 86, 142, 168, 200n ; 
Lord of the Isles 80??, 264; Mar- 
mion, 150, 162n, 168, 199, 204n. 

Scottish Field, O. Poem, quoted, 199. 

Scullery, derivation of, 332. 

Scacombe not mentioned in Domes- 
day, 388. 

Seals, 276 ; classes of, 276 ; materials 
of, 276 ; persona! seals, 277 ; seal 
of Lathom, 278 ; seals from Dun- 
wich, 385. 

Serpent-shaped fibulae, 66. 

Shakspeare, quoted, 193, 233, 234, 
246, 262, 263, 269n. 

Shearman, surname of, 242n. 

SI) oars, carried by travelling pedlars, 
81. 

Sheep, remains of, 350. 

Sherwood's Dictionary, quoted, \4Gn 

Shields, origin of, 147 ; bosses or studs 
on, 148; handles of, 149. 

Shield of arms from Dtmwich, 384. 

Shipwreck theory, 36'} ; absurdity 
and improbability of it, 364. 

Shoe-soles from Meols, 352. 

Shoemaker, trade of, 242n. 

Shotwick abandoned as a port, 28; 
mentioned in Domesday, 387. 



Shuttleworth Accounts, quoted, 10-Irc, 
127, 203, 206, 207, 238, 239, 262. 

Silver, Cheshire antiquities of, 52, 
53 ; fibula of, 70 ; comb of, 323. 

Silversmith, trade of, 24 lw. 

Sir Tristrem, O. R., quoted, 83, 243. 

" Skeleton in Armour," (Longfellow's) 
curious girdle attached to, 132 ; 
arrows of, 202. 

Skeletons discovered at Meols, 1 6. 

Slashed pattern, in Pottery, 331. 

Slate pegs, sheep's bones used for, 239. 

Slater, trade of, 241n; surname of, 
242n. 

Sling stones, 313. 

Small sections as leather ornaments, 
134. 

Smith, C. R., quoted, 134n; his Col- 
lectanea Antiqua, quoted, 283, 284. 

Smith's Dr. William, Dictionary of 
Antiquities, quoted, 61. 

Smith, Mr. H. Ecroyd, his collection 
of Antiquities, 50, 51. 

Smith, William, his map of Cheshire, 
14. 

Smoking-pipes, 335. 

Smoking spiritualized, 335. 

Smoothing stones, 314. 

Soldiers passed through Chester, 29 ; 
billeted on Hoylake farmers, 33. 

Spanish pike, a needle, 218. 

Spears and Darts to be remembered 
by servant, 167n ; often small, 210 ; 
rarely headed with horn, 210; often 
with bone, 211 ; pictorial examples, 
211,212; of iron pike looking, 212; 
mode of mounting, 213; pictorial 
representations of, 210.213; sockets 
for handles, 213 ; ferrules, 214 ; ex- 
amples, 214; specimens from Swiss 
lakes, 374. 

Spenser's Faery Queene, quoted, 24, 
168, 200» 

Spindles, ivory, 156. 

Spindle-whorls, 151 ; used with distaff 
and spindle, 1 52 ; Roman and other 
examples, 1 52 ; of earthenware, 
bone, stone, &c, 152, 153; used by 
Hebrews, Greeks, Americans, &c, 
154; in Mexico, 154; varieties of, 

155, 334; pictures of, 152, 153, 155, 

156, 157; materials, &c, of those in 
this collection, 156, 335; various 
names for, 152//, 153; found in 
Swiss lakes, 374. 

Spital mentioned in Domesday, 388. 
Spoons, early. 268 ; variety and" beauty 
of, 268; materials and forms, 269; 

picture of, 27 1 ; those in this collec- 
tion, 270. 



410 



INDEX: 



Sprights or wooden arrows, 203. 

Spurs, to be remembered by servant, 
167m; related to man and horse, 
165; of bronze,- small, 165 ; brought 
by Milliners, 167; cost of, 167; 
gave origin to term, 168; rowelled, 
170; examples in this collection, 
169; pictures of 165, 166, 168, 170. 

Staple, iron, 297. 

-liter, termination, meaning of, S20n. 

St. George for England, O. B., quoted, 
239n. 

Stiletto and bodkin, 226/z. 

Stirrup, derivation of, 175. 

Stomacher, 81. 

Stone, Cheshire antiquities of, 53; 
bullets of, 300; found at Tower, 
300 ; polished, 30 1 ; implements, 
312; found in Swiss lakes, 375; for 
Quern axis, 313; celts, 314, 315. 

Stone of a building, from Dunwich, 
386. 

Storey, Rev. George, quoted, 31. 

Strap Ends,see ''Tags." One at garter, 
119; with metal tassels, 121; fork- 
shaped, 122; at end of long girdle, 
123, 124; found in 1862, 360; from 
Dunwich, 384. 

Strap Ornaments, numerous, 56; found 
in 1862, 360; from Swiss lakes, 374. 

Stratford-on-Slaney, deserted village, 
37 7 n. 

Stringer, trade of, 21 In,; surname of, 
242/1. 

Studs, see "Bosses." 

Styca, origin of term, 287n. 

Submarine forest, remains of, 9, 10; 
furniture made from, 9».j trees, of, 
8, 9. 

Sumner and Eyes, chart by, 42. 

Sutton, Great, mentioned in Domes- 
day, 388. 

Sutton, Little, mentioned in Domes- 
day, 388. 

Swine's feather, 299. 

Swords, 300; declining use of, 303; 
form of, 304; none found at Meols, 
304 ; Roman sword, 304, Gallic 
sword, 304; forms of hilts, pommels, 
scabbards, blades, chapes, 304, 305, 
306, 307; from Swiss lakes, 375; 
to be remembered by servant, 167».; 
knife-like, 305. 



Tabak, applied to the pipe, 337. 

Tags or Strap Ends, 116; formerly at 
end of every strap, 116; figures of, 
1 i:>, 116, 117, US, 120, 121, 122, 
123, 124; shapes various, 110, &C. ; 



harmonizing with buckle, 117; 
sometimes elaborate, 118; and 
large, 1 19 ; in this collection, 124 ; 
detailed account of, 124, 125; speci- 
mens found in 1862, 360; from 
Swiss lakes, 384. 

Taylor the water poet, quoted, 188. 

Telemarken, Norway, studs from, in 
horse furniture, 145. 

Telford's map, 16. 

Terra Cotta, Cheshire antiquities of, 
53. 

The King's Quhair, quoted, 259. 

Theories respecting deposition of 
objects, 363. 

Thimbles, 221; carried by travelling 
pedlars, 81 ; to be thought of by 
servant, 167rc. 

Thingwall in Cheshire, derivation of, 
38; mentioned in Domesday, 388. 

Thomas the Rhymer, prophecy of, 
O. B., quoted, 176. 

Thomsen, Mr., his theory, 371. 

Thornton, Hough, mentioned in 
Domesday, 387. 

Thursfield, Mr., notes on pipes, 346. 

Thurstaston, mentioned in Domesday, 
387. 

Tile-wright, what, 333. 

Timber in bogs, 8. 

Tin tinnabulum, what, 256. 

Tobacco-pipes, small, 335 ; known 
as fairy pipes, 335 ; modern ones, 
336; the term tobacco, 336; its 
use at Formby, 337 ; reason, 337 ; 
Erskine's poems on smoking, 338.'*; 
growth of the custom, 33S ; in New 
Zealand, 338 ; American pipes, 
339 ; English, 340 ; Irish, 343 ; 
Anglo-American, 344 ; those found 
at Hoy lake and Meols, 345 ; pipe- 
making at Broseley, 346 ; stoppers, 
346 ; marks, 346 ; brass pipes, 343 ; 
pipes found in 1862, 362. 

Tobacco-boxes, metal, 343. 

Tobago, how named, 3 *7. 

Topography of Wirrall, 2. 

Towneley Mystery Flays, quoted, 
218m. 

Trades, various, 24ln. 

Tradesmen's tokens found in 18(52, 
361 ; found at Dunwich, 386. 

Traill, Dr., information by. 48. 

Tranmere not mentioned in Domes- 
day, 388. 

Trefoil fastenings, 17^. 

Triturating stones, 317. 

Troyon's Habitations Lacnstres, 
quoted, 21 (>/>. 

Tweezers, 236 ; uniform in shape, 



INDEX. 



411 



236 ; where found, 236 ; strung 
with needle and ear-pick, 236 ; used 
as forceps, 237 ; representation of, 

237 ; examples from Swiss lakes, 
374. 

U 

Uriconium, combs from, 318 ; destruc- 
tion of, 378. 
Uses of antiquarian objects, 54. 



Vischer's map, 14, 

W 

Wallasey Leasowes, William III. 
encamped on, 33. 

Wallasey Pool, its bottom, 21 ; eartby 
basin of, 21 ; Great Float, 20 ; 
mentioned in Domesday, 387; con- 
dition of, 387. 

Wallasey race-course, or Wallissey 
Kace, 15n. 

West Chester, what, 25. 

Whistle, bone, 351 ; ditto from Leice- 
ster, 351 

Whitby, not mentioned in Domesday, 
388. 

Wigs, dressed in public, 318. 



Wigtonshire, lake habitations in, 366ra. 
Willaston, not in Domesday, 387; but 

gave name to the Hundred, 387. 
Willaveston, see " Willaston." 
William III. encamped near Great 

Meols, 33 ; sailed from Hoy lake, 34. 
Willie's Lady, O. B., quoted, 257, 260. 
Wirrall Hundred, small in size, 1 ; its 

dimensions, 1; face of the country 

at north end, 3. 
Wolf, remains of, 350. 
Wood, Cheshire antiquities of, 53 ; 

examples from Swiss lakes, 375. 
Woodchurch not in Domesday, 388; 

parts of parish mentioned, 388 ; 

present condition of, 388. 
Worsage's Danes and .Norwegians, 

quoted, 37w, 38. 



Yetholm lake, remains of crannoge 

in, 366n. 
Young, Arthur, quoted, 14w. 
Young Tamlane, O. B., 176, 234/2. 
Young Waters. O. B., quoted, 176. 
Yorkshire, flint fish-hooks from, 252. 



Zurich, lake, piled habitations in, 370. 




GEORGE M'CORUODALE AND CO., PRINTERS, 3i, CASTLE STREET, LIVERPOOL. 



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